Hong Kong  - Bargain-hunters drove Hong Kong share prices up by more than 2 per cent Friday as nerves eased slightly following heavy losses a day earlier.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 321.31 points, or 2.43 per cent, to end the week at 13,542.66 points. Turnover was a relatively light 44.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.76 billion US dollars).

The minor rebound came after the index fell back more than 5 per cent Thursday. Shares jumped more than 3.5 per cent in early trading Friday but fell back later in the day.

Tokyo - Stocks bounced back Friday in Tokyo on the back of Wall Street's overnight rise and the yen weakening against the dollar.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 223.75 points, or 2.72 per cent, to close at 8,462.39.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 9.38 points, or 1.12 per cent, to 846.91.

Investors scooped up mainly export-oriented issues on a weaker yen as it helps boost earnings of Japanese firms.

For the week, Nikkei dropped 1.41 per cent, and Topix fell 3.65 per cent.

Indian equities rallied at the opening time on the back of encouraging global signals and domestic inflationary figures calming down to single digit levels.

But, stocks tumbled into the red zone because of profit booking.

Realty, metal stocks gained ground, while consumer goods, IT and oil & gas stocks have shed a major portion of their early gains.. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index declined 0.38% and 0.19% respectively.

The 30-share index BSE Sensex, today, opened with a gain of 262.92 points, at 9,799.25.

Manila - Philippine share prices rose 3.078 per cent on Friday as investors snapped up bargain stocks on positive economic prospects despite the global financial crisis.

The 30-share composite index of the Philippine Stock Exchange added 59.08 points to close at 1,978.05 from Thursday's finish of 1,918.97.

A total of 1.004 billion shares worth 1.373 billion pesos (28.02 million dollars) were traded.

Gainers led losers 49 to 26, while 47 issues were unchanged.

Tokyo - Stocks bounced back Friday in Tokyo on the back of Wall Street's overnight rises and the yen weakening against the dollar.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 351.15 points, or 4.26 per cent, in morning trading to 8,589.79, as investors snapped up bargains.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 23.11 points, or 2.76 per cent, to 860.64.

New York - US stocks delivered their largest rally in two weeks, adding more than 6 per cent Thursday to the three major indices and erasing more than 4-per-cent losses booked Wednesday.

The reversals were fuelled by a grab for cheap energy shares. Beleaguered real-estate companies got new wind after CB Richard Ellis Inc raised cash in a share sale and gained 43 per cent, Bloomberg financial news service reported.