Asia Markets Mostly Higher

By SHRI NAVARATNAM And V. PHANI KUMAR

Tokyo led most Asian markets higher Friday after some of the world's largest economies agreed to put their weight behind Japan's effort to interrupt the yen's surge.

Indian stocks were an exception, declining on worries about further interest-rate increases and political concerns after a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable suggested the bribes were used to win a crucial vote in Parliament.

A coordinated intervention in the world's currency markets as the G-7, in a very rare move, agrees to a concerted effort to drive down the yen. WSJ's Jake Lee and Hong Kong Bureau Chief Peter Stein discuss.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.7% to 9206.75, but finished the week down 10.2%.

The rally came after the Group of Seven industrialized nations—of which Japan is a member—said they would intervene in foreign-exchange markets in a concerted effort to prevent "excess volatility and disorderly movements." It marked the first time in more than a decade that the G-7 had agreed on such a measure.

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Bloomberg News

Yoshihiko Noda, Japan's finance minister, left, and Masaaki Shirakawa, governor of the Bank of Japan, after a conference call with finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven nations on Friday

"What G-7 is telling us is that they will simply not tolerate a rapid strengthening in the yen," said Sean Callow, strategist at Westpac bank.

"This is a powerful statement from the G-7…Whether this is viable looking ahead will partially depend on the size of intervention operations and the commitment of international partners to sustain them," analysts at Nomura Securities wrote in a note.

Among the big stock movers, Taiheiyo Cement jumped 15%, JFE Holdings added 3.6%, Toshiba rose 7.5% and Fast Retailing climbed 6.4%.

Sony rose 0.2%, underperforming the market after saying six of its Japanese manufacturing plants remain closed and that it was investigating whether a disruption in component supply would affect its production.

Some traders were circumspect about the Tokyo market's rise, noting the G-7 action had been anticipated and Japanese officials still have a huge recovery and rebuilding task on hand.

"The problems at the nuclear plant are far from over, and we have a three-day weekend ahead, so it's hard to keep buying on the weaker yen alone," said Yumi Nishimura, deputy general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets. Japanese markets will be closed for Vernal Equinox Day.

Among the region's other major stocks markets, China's Shanghai Composite finished the week at 2906.89, down 0.9% from a week earlier, its third weekly loss in the past four. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 4.1% for the week to 22300.23, marking two straight week of declines.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.6% on Friday to 4626.44, paring is loss for the week to 0.4%. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.1% to 1981.13, climbing 1.3% for the week, its 11th gain in the past 12 weeks.

Many energy stocks advanced across the region, including in Tokyo, as crude-oil futures climbed after the United Nations Security Council authorized military action against Libya.

In Tokyo,Inpex rose 6.8% and Japan Petroleum Exploration climbed 7.4%, while in Sydney, Woodside Petroleum rose 3.6%.

Sydney-listed Origin Energy dropped 1.7% after resuming trading following its plan to raise A$2.3 billion ($2.28 billion) via a share issue to reduce debt associated with its purchase of electricity assets privatized by the New South Wales state government.

PetroChina reversed early gains to end 1.3% lower in Hong Kong and 0.6% lower in Shanghai on profit-taking, a day after it reported higher-than-expected profit growth for 2010.

In Seoul, Posco climbed 3.2% on expectations the steelmaker would benefit from quake-induced supply shortages.

India's Sensex fell 1.5% to 17878.81, losing 2.5% for the week.

Shares declined on news a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable suggested India's ruling Congress party offered bribes to win a crucial vote in Parliament on the U.S.-India nuclear deal in 2008. Expectation that the Reserve Bank of India, to cool inflationary pressure, might raise interest rates further also weighed on the market.

In Mumbai, Reliance Industries fell 3.7%, while Housing Development Finance slid 1.9%.

Write to Shri Navaratnam at shri.navaratnam@dowjones.com and V. Phani Kumar at phani.kumar@dowjones.com