Asian stocks close higher after Wall Street advance (MarketWatch) (16-05-2008)

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- The Asia Pacific region rose across the board on Friday after an overnight advance on Wall Street.

Japanese shares gained on exporters and financials, but were came off early highs on profit taking, while mainland China stocks remained unsettled throughout the trading session. Hong Kong listed stocks advanced after posting declines in the previous two sessions.

The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.7% to 25,693.25 in Hong Kong, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gained 1.3% to 14,202.46.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.4% to 5,971.30, shy of the psychologically important 6,000-point level.

Shares of BHP gained 3.2%, as Chinese interests approached an Australian superannuation and investment fund for the stake purchase, which would give China a 4.5% stake in BHP, while the other half would be split between the Australian fund and a global private equity investor.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Average rose as high as 14,392.53 before slipping back to a low of 14,211.26. It was recently up 0.6% at 14,330.23, while the broader Topix index climbed 0.4% to 1,398.30.

China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1% to 3,634.08, after rising as high as 3,661.07 earlier in the day.

South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.3% to 1,891.36, New Zealand's NZX 50 index added 1.1% to 3,655.49 and Singapore's Straits Times index added 0.9% to 3,235.29, while Taiwan's Weighted index firmed up 0.6% to 9,209.52.

  Source MarketWatch