LONDON (CNNfn) - Sharp gains for technology stocks fueled a healthy advance on Tokyo's main index Friday following a rally the previous day on Wall Street, while disappointing earnings from leading Hong Kong conglomerates weighed heavily on the Hang Seng.
Japan's Nikkei average of 225 stocks rose 240.51 points, or 1.4 percent, to close at a five-week high of 16,911.33, with electronic components maker Murata Manufacturing and semiconductor testing device maker Advantest among the leading gainers. The index rose almost 4 percent on the week.
"Companies are raising their earnings expectations and we've been hearing news that capital expenditure is on the rise as well," said Tetsuya Ishijima, chief strategist at Okasan Securities.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 202.96 points, or 1.2 percent, to end the session at 17,236.74, declining more that 1 percent on the week. Property conglomerate Cheung Kong (Holdings) disappointed investors by failing to beat analysts' expectations.
 South Korea's Kospi index rose 1.5 percent to 729.80, while the tech heavy Kosdaq added 0.8 percent.
Singapore's Straits Times index fell 7.67 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,166.29.
In the currency market, the yen traded at ¥106.99 per U.S. dollar, little changed from ¥106.89 in late New York Trade Thursday.
Earnings optimism lifts Tokyo
In Tokyo, Murata Manufacturing soared 14.2 percent after saying group net profit in the April-September period was likely to rise to a record ¥56 billion ($523 million), well above its May forecast of ¥39.5 billion.
Other semiconductor-related shares followed in Murata's footsteps, with Advantest rising 7.3 percent and rival Tokyo Electron up more than 3 percent.
Internet investor Softbank, heavily invested in several Nasdaq firms, surged more than 16.5 percent.
In the consumer electronics sector, Sharp climbed 10.6 percent, overcoming recent concerns about possible oversupply in the market for liquid crystal display screens. Toshiba added 1.2 percent.
Videogame maker Nintendo dropped 3.3 percent. The company unveiled a new game console, the Gamecube, on Wednesday but analysts doubted the company could deliver them soon enough to beat the competition.
NTT DoCoMo, the country's dominant mobile phone operator, led the telecom sector higher, rising almost 3 percent. Japan Telecom gained 1.2 percent and DDI climbed 4.3 percent.
Nissan Motor jumped more than 10 percent. Nikkei Financial daily on Friday said Goldman Sachs analyst Kunihiko Shiohara expects Nissan's cost-cutting measures to kick in soon.
Cheung Kong hits Hang Seng
Hong Kong's largest real estate developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) fell 1.5 percent. The company announced on Thursday first-half net profit of HK$17.4 billion, more than tripling from a year earlier - but also below market forecasts.
Cheung Kong Chairman Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong's richest man, threatened to reduce his investment in the territory, said a report in the Hong Kong Mail newspaper Friday, after his company was alleged to have received confidential documents leaked by a legislator. The newspaper said he threatened to pull back "if the media and politicians orchestrate together" to denigrate his company.
Hutchison Whampoa, a telecom and property conglomerate 49.9 percent owned by Cheun Kong, reported Thursday after the market closed that first-half net income quadrupled to HK$31.13 billion ($4 billion) because of massive profits on the sale of various telecom assets.
Banking stocks retreated after a recent rally. HSBC Holdings lost 1.7 percent, Hang Seng Bank dropped 1.4 percent, Bank of East Asia declined 1.9 percent, and Dao Heng Bank slid 3 percent.
In Singapore, Singapore Telecommunications rose 5.4 percent after The Business Times quoted Cheung Kong's Li Ka-shing as saying he would consider buying into SingTel if the government moved to divest more and there was a good buying opportunity.
Defense group ST Engineering fell 3.2 percent after delays in a U.S. army tender.
Telstra debt concern
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 5 points to 3,367.4, led by
telecom heavyweight Telstra, down 3.5 percent. The company and Richard Li's Pacific Century Cyberworks on Thursday agreed a debt funding structure for their planned joined venture in Internet services, prompting concern that the new debt might be a burden on Telstra's earnings.
In South Korea, telecom operator KT Freetel climbed 2.9 percent and Daum Communications, the country's leading Internet portal, jumped 7.2 percent.
In other markets, Taiwan's Weighted index slipped 0.9 percent, Thailand's composite SET index lost 0.2 percent. Manila's PHS Composite index rose 0.1 percent. 
--from staff and wire reports
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