SINGAPORE (MarketWatch) -- Asian shares were nudging higher Friday with some relief for the region's technology companies as Intel results met expectations in the U.S., though trade was subdued heading into the weekend.
A slightly weaker Japanese yen was also spurring some interest in exporter stocks in Tokyo, with Toyota Motor up 3.0% and Sony adding 3.5% in early trade.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was recently up 1.1% with Korea's Kospi adding 0.4% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 up 0.9%; New Zealand's NZX-50 was 0.3% higher.
Intel gained 4.1% after-hours even as the U.S. chip giant reported a 90% fall in fourth-quarter net income, with the fact the company managed to meet forecasts helping Nasdaq futures a bit; it declined though to give a formal outlook for the first quarter, a sign of how hard it is to predict the depth of the current downturn.
"Some investors may buy on the view that U.S. stocks have little downside risk Friday, ahead of the three-day weekend there and the inauguration of Barack Obama as president on Tuesday," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities in Tokyo.
The gains in Asia followed an erratic session in the U.S., where the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped under the key 8000 level early, before rebounding to end 0.2% higher.
Investors took some comfort as U.S. House Democrats unveiled details of an $825 billion plan to stimulate the economy - the largest economic stimulus legislation ever put forward by the federal government; also, the Senate voted to release the second tranche of $350 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to the Treasury.
Still, Asian markets were hardly mounting a convincing recovery from Thursday's big falls (the Nikkei dropped 4.9%, the Kospi 6% and the S&P/ASX 4.3%.
"The current environment of elevated risk aversion, global central bank rate convergence and the transition to a new presidential administration continues to make capital preservation a priority for market participants," said analysts at UBS.
Bank of America Corp. moved up its fourth-quarter earnings report to Friday morning in the U.S., making it the latest big bank to push forward its earnings release; its shares sank 18% Thursday after a Wall Street Journal report it would need more federal aid to complete its Merrill Lynch takeover; the WSJ also reported Merrill's losses could total more than $10 billion.
In Asia, technology shares were rising with Samsung Electronics up 0.7% in Seoul and LG Display adding 3.5% before its fourth quarter results, due around 0600 GMT.
Resource stocks were higher, too, with BHP adding 3.1% in Sydney after its U.S. shares gained Thursday; Rio Tinto was up 2.6% with its fourth quarter production report largely as-expected.
Woodside though fell 1.4% after announcing the suspension of its OceanWay gas project off the California coast, citing market conditions.
Steelmaker Posco slipped 0.6% in Korea on its disappointing fourth quarter results and given its bleak outlook; financial shares fell after Moody's put the ratings of 10 Korean banks on negative watch, with KB Financial down 1.6%.
New Zealand exporter shares were helped by a falling Kiwi dollar with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare adding 1.2%; "a weaker currency is not a bad thing for exporters in these times," said ABN Amro Craigs broker James Porteous.
There was some decline in the Japanese yen, a reflection of modest risk appetite; the U.S. dollar was around Y89.99, from Y89.71 late in New York, and the euro at Y118.51, from Y118.
The euro was ticking up against the dollar, to $1.3167, from $1.3145, and well off the overnight low of $1.3032 which came after the European Central Bank cut rates 50 basis points.
Japanese government bonds were sold with the lead March futures contract down 0.22 at 139.83 points, though key cash bonds were untraded and the market was quiet.
Spot gold was $1.55 higher at $818.25 a troy ounce, though analysts said data showing fading inflation in the euro-zone and the U.S. could keep a lid on the metal, which tends to be used as a hedge against inflation.
February Nymex crude was steady on Globex at $35.40 a barrel, after falling $1.88 in New York.
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