ASIA MARKETS: Nikkei Rallies, Looks To Notch 10th Straight Weekly Gain

Markets in Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan also advance

The global stock rebound continued Friday in Asia, with equities working to erase declines from earlier in the week.

Japan again led the way. The Nikkei jumped 1.5%, putting it into positive territory for the week. It hasn't had a down week since early September and if it does notch a 10th straight weekly advance today, that would be the longest winning streak since January 2013.

Friday's gains came in spite of yen strengthening; it eased to Yen112.80 from Yen113.10 earlier. Exporters were strong despite the yen's strength. Sony (6758.TO) gained 2.7% and Honda Motor (HMC) climbed 2%.

The optimism in Asia markets optimism followed rebounds in Europe and the Americas, with the Nasdaq Composite hitting a new record high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 posting their biggest daily percentage gains in two months.

Singapore's stock benchmark , which lagged Thursday, bounced 1% early Friday while Korea's Kospi gained 0.8%. Samsung Electronics (005930.SE) climbed 1.7% to move into positive territory for the week. Taiwan's tech-heavy index also rose 0.8%.

"Fundamentals are still positive [for equities] in the sense that we continue to see an improvement in economic data and yet inflation is still at a controllable pace," said Will Leung, head of investment strategy at Standard Chartered Bank.

He noted that continuing strong earnings out of the U.S. and Asia were supporting equity markets.

Oil prices were little changed in Asian trading Friday after hitting fresh two-week lows overnight. Investors continue to await clarity on the future of the production-cut agreement led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"Reports that Russia is still not convinced of the need to extend the curbs on output have seen some doubt enter investors' minds," ANZ said.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 16, 2017 22:31 ET (03:31 GMT)