On the stocks front, BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining group, gained 1,5% on a day as rising mining stocks dragged the regional index higher. Samsung Electronics, which is set to launch a new luxury Galaxy next week, rose 2,4% in Seoul. Toyota Motor gained 1,5% on a one-day rally for Japanese stock markets due in part to a slowdown in the yen against the dollar. National Australia Bank was down 2,1% after one of the country's largest lenders reported lower profit growth than its competitors.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index gained 0,9% to trade at 137.03 as of 9:20am in Tokyo before Chinese markets opened. The measure had closed with a 1,3% loss on Thursday on disappointing data on the Chinese manufacturing front. “We are relatively positive on the US economy” comments David Cassidy, UBS strategist in Sydney. “Investors are positioned for an improving trend in the US. Earnings growth is improving and that will be enough to propel markets this year.
The Topix was up 1,7%, South Korea's Kospi was up 1,1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0,7% and New Zealand's NZX 50 was up 0.5 percent.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-21/asian-stocks-rise-after-u-s-manufacturing-gauge-climbs.html
