TOKYO
JAPANESE share prices rose 0.53 per cent in morning trade on Friday after Wall Street enjoyed a surge overnight on the back of some good news from the troubled banking sector.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index climbed 47.45 points to 8,963.51 by the lunch break. The broader Topix index of all first section shares gained 3.66 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 845.47.

SHANGHAI
Chinese share prices were up 1.01 per cent on Friday morning led by financial stocks after major lenders posted strong earnings for 2008, dealers said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was up 23.96 points at 2,403.84.

The Shanghai A-share index rose 25.13 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 2,523.12, while the Shenzhen A-share index was up 7.46 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 842.53.

KUALA LUMPUR
At 9.30am today, there were 247 gainers, 26 losers and 74 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.

The KLCI was at 928.78 up 10.89 points, the FBM2BRD was at 4,000.09 up 9.01 points, and the FBMEmas was at 6,107.55 up 79.07 points.

Turnover was at 217.924 million shares valued at RM140.112 million.

-- AFP