Asian stock markets were largely positive on the final trading day of the week, as shares of semiconductor-related companies and Apple suppliers soared. The Nikkei 225 ended 1.2 percent higher at 23,094.67, with the shipping sector surging by 2.31 percent. South Korea's Kospi also closed the trading week higher by 1.4 percent 2,318.25. Down Under, the ASX 200 jumped 0.6 percent to close at 6,165.3 with its major banks seeing gains, as AMP shares recovered from their earlier slump to end the trading week higher by 0.32 percent. In Greater China markets, the Hang Seng index extended its gains from yesterday to close higher by 0.97 percent at 27,277.16. Over on the mainland, however, markets bucked the overall positive trend. The Shanghai composite slid by 0.18 percent to close at 2,681.65 while the Shenzhen composite ended 0.782 percent lower at 1,402.51. The moves in the region came after China reported that its fixed asset investment growth in the first eight months of 2018 had reached a new low, despite official industrial output and retail sales data coming in above expectations. Semiconductors bounce back Semiconductor stocks in Asia saw a strong rebound on Friday. In Japan, semiconductor test equipment manufacturer Advantest saw its stock jump higher by 4.98 percent, while South Korea's major chip manufacturers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix bounced back more than 4 percent. The moves among the chipmakers came on the back of Micron's strong rebound overnight on Wall Street, with investor David Tepper's positive comments about the company's future. Speaking on CNBC's “Halftime Report” on Thursday, Tepper said he was still “very, very long” on the American chipmaker's shares. The sector tumbled yesterday after a warning earlier from Goldman Sachs about slowing growth in chip demand. Apple suppliers in Taiwan surge Stocks of Apple's suppliers in Taiwan soared on Friday after the tech giant unveiled a suite of products including its new generation of iPhones earlier this week. Largan Precision, which supplies Apple with smartphone camera lenses, rose 7.18 percent while iPhone assembler Pegatron saw its stock jumping 7.72 percent. Contract manufacturing giant Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, also saw its stock climb by 2.5 percent. Stocks of Apple also saw similar gains during Thursday's trading session stateside, rising by about 2.4 percent. Source: CNBC
