Asian stocks found their footing on Friday, edging up despite a strong aftershock that jolted northeastern Japan, the region that endured vast destruction following a major earthquake last month.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9 percent to 9,678.68. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.3 percent to 24,364.38, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5 percent to 2,132.20. Indexes in Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, Singapore and the Philippines were also higher.
The quake rattled investors, partly since it struck near the same area as the massive earthquake that triggered a devastating tsunami on March 11. But stocks retained their resiliency as the impact of the latest quake appeared to be less than initially feared, and appeared not to have damaged the area’s nuclear power plants.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi complex -- where workers have been frantically trying to cool overheated reactors since they lost cooling systems last month -- reported no new abnormalities.
On Wall Street, stocks ended the day Thursday with small losses due to the aftershock that rattled Japan. The Dow Jones industrial average fell as many as 96 points in morning trading, but recovered most of its losses after a tsunami warning was lifted.
The Dow fell 17.26 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,409.49 The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 2.03, or 0.2 percent, to 1,333.51. The Nasdaq composite fell 3.68, or 0.1 percent, to 2,796.14.
Oil prices rose to near $111 a barrel as traders weighed the fighting in Libya and a weaker dollar against concerns rising fuel costs could undermine U.S. economic growth and demand for crude.
Benchmark crude for May delivery was up 54 cents to $110.84 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 12 cents to settle at $108.95 on Thursday.
In currencies, the dollar rose to 85.24 yen from 84.92 yen late Thursday in New York. The euro rose to $1.4362 from $1.4302.
