Asian markets were mostly lower on Friday as weak corporate earnings weighed on markets.Japan's Nikkei 225 Average down 1.57 percent down 139.02 points at 8,707.99.Japan’s leading automaker Toyota was down 2.1 percent, while Nissan Motor was down 4.8 percent.JFE Holdings fell 3.1% after reporting 26 percent drop in net profit.Nippon Steel Corp.was down 4.2 percent and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. down 5.2 percent.Export stocks were down on stronger yen ,Canon Inc. down 2.7 percent.

Hang Seng Index rose 44.39 points to 15,258.85 after a volatile session.Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.62 percent down 15.36 points to 2,448.60 led by financial stocks on speculation the banking regulator might tighten lending norms.KOSPI index fell 14.70 points to 1,354.10.Straits Times Index was down 0.38 percent 7.13 points to 1,852.85.Bombay SE Sensitive Index gained 1.74 percent to close at 11,329.05 led by banking stocks.

FTSE 100 index ended higher 3.43 percent up 137.76 points to 4155.99,Germany's DAX closed up 3 percent up 136.11 points to 4674.32,France's CAC 40 gained 3.13 percent up 94.23 points to 3102.85.

On Friday, the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average rose by 119.23 points, up 1.50 percent, to 8,076.29. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 14.31 points, up 1.68 percent, to 866.23. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 42.08 points, up 2.55 percent, to 1,694.29.

In currency markets, the Japanese yen was gaining on risk aversion ahead of the weekend.Dollar was at 96.97 yen from 97.92 yen.Euro was at 128.47 yen from 128.69 yen, and at $1.3244 from $1.3140.
Saturday,25 April 2009