Asian shares mostly up in quiet trade

Asian markets mostly rose while the dollar edged up in holiday-narrowed trade on Friday following a mixed lead from Wall Street and news of a deal between Russia and the West to ease Ukraine tensions. With many bourses closed for the Easter break, business was thin at the end of a broadly positive week in Asia, which was helped by bargain buying after the previous week's sell-off. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index added 0.68 percent, or 98.74 points, to finish at 14,516.27 -- a 4 percent gain for the week after losing more than 7 percent the previous week. The Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 0.58 percent, or 6.78 points, to 1,173.37. Exporter shares got a boost as the dollar strengthened to 102.43 in Tokyo, up from 102.39 yen in New York Thursday. A weaker yen inflates the profitability of Japanese exporters. "I'd like to think that there is a case for buying Japan on earnings, in the run-up to another blowout reporting season, but the market doesn't move unless foreign investors move, and they look like they're enjoying a slow, sleepy Easter weekend," said CLSA equities strategist Nicholas Smith. Toyota rose 0.94 percent to 5,564 yen, Sony gained 1.25 percent to 1,932 yen, while Sharp was up 1.47 percent at 276 yen. Mobile phone carriers ended mixed with SoftBank adding 0.23 percent to 7,623 yen, while NTT Docomo slipped 0.12 percent to 1,579 yen. In Shanghai, the benchmark Composite Index dipped 1.14 points to 2,097.75. The index fell 1.54 percent for the week. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, rose 0.29 percent, or 3.13 points, to 1,089.36. It gained only 0.12 percent over the week. Property developers fell after the government said growth in housing prices slowed in March. China Fortune Land Development fell 3.46 percent to 27.89 yuan and Beijing Capital Development shed 1.03 percent to 4.80 yuan. But environment-related stocks were up after state media cited authorities as saying nearly one fifth of the country's arable land was polluted. Pollution control equipment maker Fujian Longking gained 2.41 percent to 29.71 yuan, while Zhejiang Feida Environmental Science and Technology rose 0.75 percent to 20.03 yuan. Seoul rose 0.61 percent, or 12.23 points, to close at 2,004.28 and Taipei gained 0.25 percent, or 22.50 points, to 8,966.66. Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Jakarta, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Manila were closed for public holidays. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq was boosted by Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like Chinese micro-blogging site, which soared 19.1 percent on its debut after its initial public offering raised less than the company had hoped for. The greenback bought 102.41 yen, slightly up from 102.39 yen in New York, while the euro fetched $1.3817 and 141.48 yen against $1.3813 and 141.45 yen. In oil trade New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in May fetched $104.55 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for June was at $109.66. Gold fetched $1,293.90 an ounce.