LONDON (CNNfn) - Tokyo's leading index closed marginally lower Friday, after foraying briefly beyond the 20,000-point mark for the first time in two-and-a-half years, aided by yen weakness and an upbeat outlook for corporate earnings. Singapore stocks finished a curtailed trading session higher while Hong Kong, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur markets were closed for the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.
In Tokyo, the 225-share benchmark Nikkei average closed down 23.29 points, or 0.12 percent, at 19.763.13 as investors took advantage of an early-session rally to pocket gains. A confluence of catalysts - including the launch of several large new investment trusts this week and a sharp overnight rally on the U.S. Nasdaq - had sparked the advance earlier in the day. The breach of the 20,000K mark took the index to a level only slightly more than half its all-time high of 38,915.87, achieved on December 29, 1989.
The Nikkei advanced 1.7 percent, or 328.35 points, for the week.
The dollar was little changed against the yen at 107.52 yen Friday in Tokyo, compared with 107.59 late Thursday in New York. Many economists see the yen trading in a range of 108 to 110 in the near term. A weak yen is generally seen as a boon to exporters, who are able to sell their goods abroad at a relatively cheaper price.
Wall Street's strong overnight performance, spearheaded by a 3.4 percent Nasdaq rally - its fourth straight gain - lent early support to Japanese shares. The Dow Jones blue chips rose 10.24 points to 11,013.44, while the S&P 500 index gained 15.85 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,424.97.
Consumer electronics giant Sony Corp. shot up 3.8 percent to 29,180 yen amid expectations that its shares will be snapped up by the new investment trusts. Those include heavyweights such as Nomura Asset Management's new fund, which said it collected a record 792 billion yen ($7.4 billion) in initial subscriptions when it launched Wednesday.
Tokyo Electron surged more than 10 percent after the specialty electronics firm raised its group net profit forecast for the year to March 2000 to 17 billion yen, from 11 billion. The firm's shares closed at 324 yen.
Leading the gainers, Mitsubishi Materials, a nonferrous metals smelter, rocketed nearly 23 percent as the company's embrace of the wireless Internet access area lured investors. Shares of Nomura Securities, the parent of Nomura Asset Management, rose 10.5 percent amid enthusiasm over its new investment fund.
Pushing in the reverse direction, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing fell 5.7 percent, Kawasaki Steel gave up 6 percent and S.T. Chemical Co. Ltd. fell 6.7 percent.
In Sydney, the All Ordinaries finished down as a slide in media powerhouse News Corp. outweighed gains in the banking sector. The leading gauge eased 20 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,115.1. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which represents about 14 percent of the index, slid 3.6 percent, reversing some recent sharp gains driven by speculation about a possible joint venture or acquisition and rating upgrades by analysts. There is also talk that the company may float some of its businesses. Australian blue chips ended the week up 0.7 percent, or 23 points higher, from the previous Friday's close.
The banking sector, which got off to a patchy start to the week, rose 0.7 percent from the previous Friday, helped by a half-percentage-point rate hike by Australia's central bank that dispelled some uncertainty over interest rates.
The Straits Times Index in Singapore ended up 0.4 percent at 2,258.91 after a shortened session ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday across the region. Bank shares fell.
In Manila, shares edged up half a percent to close at 2,008.86 on thin pre-holiday trade. Jakarta advanced 3.4 percent by late Friday as buyers homed in on blue chips that are expected to post better 1999 profits in the coming weeks.
Strength in banking and petrochemical stocks helped prod Thai stocks up 1 percent by the close. 
--from staff and wire reports
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