Awwal 22, 1432 H/Feb 25, 2011, SPA -- Japanese stocks rose for the first time in four days Friday on gains in Asian markets and easing concerns about soaring oil prices amid unrest in Libya, as dpa reported. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 74.05 points, or 0.71 per cent, to close at 10,526.76 while the broader Topix index was up 7.71 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 941.93. The Nikkei advanced further in the afternoon as some other Asian markets climbed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.59 per cent as of 0:30 pm (0430 GMT) while the Shanghai Composite Index opened down by rebounded in the late morning and was up 0.09 per cent as of 1:54 pm (0554 GMT). For the week, the Nikkei fell 2.91 per cent while the Topix dropped 3.25 per cent. In New York, the price of crude oil fell 1.3 per cent to 97.28 dollars per barrel overnight, after breaching the 100-dollar mark Wednesday and closing at its highest level since October 2008. The Japanese government said Friday that the nation's key consumer price index fell 0.2 per cent in January from a year earlier, in the 23rd consecutive month of year-on-year decline. On currency markets at 3 pm (0600 GMT), the dollar traded at 81.94-97 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 81.86-87 yen. The euro traded at 1.3815-3818 dollars, up from 1.3707-3708 dollars Thursday, and at 113.22-26 yen, up from 112.21-25 yen.
