By Laura He, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks rose on Friday to
their highest closing level in nearly seven years, reacting
positively to Scottish voters' rejection of independence from the
U.K., while the yen hit a fresh post-financial-crisis low against
the dollar.
Scotland has decided to stay in the U.K., with 55% of voters
rejecting independence in the referendum held Thursday, according
to official results released Friday.
The Nikkei Average ended 1.6% higher at 16,321.17, the highest
level since late 2007. The index capped the week with a solid 2.3%
gain, rising for a third straight week. The broader Topix index
closed 1.1% higher, also posting a weekly advance of 1.4%.
Meanwhile, the yen (USDJPY) lost more ground against the dollar,
reaching Yen109.02, compared with Yen108.62 in late U.S. trading
Thursday. Earlier, the yen tapped Yen109.46, a fresh six-year
low.
Among market movers, semiconductor firm Renesas Electronics
Corp. rose 3%, auto maker Mazda Motor Corp. climbed 2.7%,
industrial-robot manufacturer Fanuc Corp. advanced 2.5%, camera
maker Nikon Corp. and electronics giant Toshiba Corp. each added
1.4%, and camera maker Olympus Corp. tacked on 1%.
Other major Asian markets registered broad gains. In Hong Kong,
the benchmark Hang Seng Index finished up 0.6%, with British banks
HSBC Holdings PLC and Standard Chartered PLC gaining 1.7% and 0.9%
separately.
Over on the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index rose
0.6%. Meanwhile, both Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 and Seoul's Kospi
Composite Index settled 0.3% higher.
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