Value Hunters Push Asia Higher

Shares in Asia staged a mild rally to finish the week broadly in the green on Friday, with individual companies rather than sectors leading the way. The carry trade continued to gain favor among investors, as the yen slid to 110.38 vs. the dollar, the currency's lowest level in two weeks.

Value stocks led the region's gains, as the Taiwanese Taiex rose 140 points, or 1.7%, to 8586, while the South Korean Kospi jumped 28 points, or 1.51%, to 8586. In Japan, the Nikkei climbed 167 points, or 1.08%, to 15,680. Industrial and steel stocks lifted the indices, while exporters were mixed.

Kobe Steel(KBSTY Quote) surged 6%, to 820 yen, while Nintendo(NTDOY Quote) jumped 2.91%, to 67,200 yen, but Sony(SNE Quote), Canon(CAJ Quote) and NTT DoCoMo(DCM Quote) all declined between 0.5% and 1.13%.

Unemployment data released today were in line with expectations, at 4%, continuing to rise from a low of 3.6% reached in July. Inflation rose at its fastest rate so far this year, increasing 0.3% on the year in October, above 0.1% expected by analysts, mostly because of surging food and energy prices.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng ended the day 161 points higher, up 0.6%, at 28,643, but in China the Shanghai Composite Index bucked the bullish trend, slumping 131 points, or 2.6%, to 4871.

"Right now, it's some of the laggards [outside China] that look attractive -- it's what to be wary of rather than what's cheap," says Hugh Young, managing director of $54 billion Aberdeen Asset Management Asia in Singapore.