Manila - Philippine share prices rose 4.62 per cent on Friday as investors snapped up undervalued stocks.

The Philippine Stock Exchange's 30-share composite index gained 86.16 points to close at 1,951.09 points from Thursday's finish of 1,864.93.

A total of 1.78 billion shares valued at 3.10 billion dollars (63.26 million dollars) were traded.

Gainers outpaced losers 99 to 16, while 32 issues were unchanged.

Indian equities opened strongly on the back of positive global cues.

IT, FMCG and oil & gas stocks gained ground. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose more than 2% each.

The US Federal Reserve slashed bank rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday (Oct 29), and many other central banking institutions are likely to follow suit sooner than later.

The inflationary figures declined to 10.68% for the week ended October 18, as compared with 11.07 per cent for the previous week. The annual rate of inflation was 3.11 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks fell 3.7 per cent in early trading Friday on profit-taking after two days of double digit gains.

The blue-chip Hang Seng index lost 525 points in the first hour after opening, dropping to 13,804 points.

Analysts blamed the fall on profit-taking after three consecutive days of gains which has seen the index bounce back by 23 per cent after recording one of its biggest day losses Monday.

This week has been one of the most volatile in the Hang Seng's history.

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks lost some of their recent gains Friday as investors tried to lock in profits.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average, which gained nearly 10 per cent the previous day, lost 245.64 points, or 2.72 per cent, to 8,784.12.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 15.49 points, or 1.72 per cent, at 883.88.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 98.77-82 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 98.74-76 yen.

New York - Wall Street stock indices climbed Thursday despite new government data showing the US economy shrank in the third quarter of 2008.

The 0.3-per-cent contraction in gross domestic product - the largest quarterly decline since the 2001 recession - was less than the 0.5-per-cent drop forecast by economists.

Consumer spending shrunk by 3.1 per cent in the quarter, the largest drop since 1980, as a financial crisis has severely curbed lending in the United States.

Tokyo - Markets across the Asia-Pacific on Thursday saw the roller-coaster ride they have been taking in recent weeks make an upward surge with key markets jumping more than 10 per cent on news of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average ended trading up nearly 10 per cent after the US central bank's rate cut as well as boosted profit prospects for Japan's exporters as the yen weakened against the dollar.