2013.06.1405:35:27UTC+00Philippine, Japan stocks lead Asia bounce back

Asian stocks bounced back Friday as eased worries about the Federal Reserve’s financial policy and a development in U.S. economic data sparked relief purchasing across the region, with Japanese and Southeast Asian equities witnessing the biggest gains.

Stock movers

Many Japanese exporters gained, even as the dollar declined back under the ¥95 handle in rough trade, having risen well above that level earlier in the day.

Shares of Mazda Motor Corp. uptrend 3.5%, and Casio Computer Co. boosted 4.2%.

Also reversing some recent losses, real-estate major Mitsui Fudosan Co. climbed 3.8%, and rival Mitsubishi Estate Co. jumped 4.2%. Both stocks still looked set to end the week sharply lower.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. flew 3.9% higher after the Nikkei newspaper reported the board of directors had dismissed the company’s president and scuttled merger talks with Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co.. Mitsui Engineering gave up early gains to fall 3.5% back.

In Hong Kong, shares of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, climbed 0.9% after Reuters reported the refining giant is negotiating to join a $20 billion liquefied-natural-gas project run by Russia’s Novatek.

China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. rose 1.7%, and Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd. added 2.3% in the beaten-down property sector, while heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC climbed 0.8% among financials.

Mining issues jumped in Sydney, including a 3.3% gain in Rio Tinto Ltd. and a 1.2% rise for gold producer Newcrest Mining Ltd..

High-yield-dividend banking shares moved higher as the Australian dollar strengthened. Shares of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group bounced 2.5%, and Westpac Banking Corp. rose 2.1%.

Relief-buying also lifted several beleaguered shares in Seoul. Heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.8%, and GS Engineering & Construction Corp. added 0.5%.

Among the notable gainers in Manila trading, Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. and Ayala Land Inc. added 4.7% each, while in Jakarta, Bank Negara Indonesia soared 6.2%, and Bank Rakyat Indonesia advanced 4.1%.