Nikkei posts 11th straight gain but Shanghai extends losses

Japan's Nikkei chalked up an eleventh straight gain Friday as the yen sat around 12-year lows against the dollar, while Shanghai extended losses following the previous day's hefty plunge.

The euro continues to face downside pressure over concerns that Greece and its creditors will not reach an agreement on reforming its bailout, with the head of the IMF warning the crisis could end with the country leaving the eurozone.

Tokyo pared most of its early losses but ended marginally higher, adding 11.69 points to end at 20,563.15 -- the index is now enjoying its best rally since February 1988 at the height of Japan's stock market bubble.

Sydney jumped 1.12 percent, or 64.10 points, to 5,777.20 and Seoul added 0.19 percent, or 3.91 points, to 2,114.80.

Shanghai plunged four percent at one point, after a 6.5 percent fall on Thursday on concerns about tighter rules for margin trading. However, the index recovered slightly to sit 1.50 percent lower in volatile trade, while Hong Kong dipped 0.12 percent.

Wall Street's three main markets ended lower Thursday, spooked by worries about Greece's long-running debt talks as well as China's heavy sell-off.

The Dow dipped 0.20 percent, the S&P 500 shed 0.12 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.17 percent.

However, Japanese traders brushed off the negative lead, with exporters pushed higher by the continuing weakness of the yen.

The Japanese currency has fallen about 3.5 percent against the dollar this month as the US Federal Reserve prepares to hike interest rates at some point this year, while the Bank of Japan considers loosening monetary policy further.

The dollar was at 123.93 yen after touching 124.46 yen at one point in New York, the highest level since December 2002. However, it is still up from 123.70 yen in late Tokyo trade Thursday.

- Greece worries -

"The fact that the Fed has shown an intention to raise rates within the year has been behind the weakening of the yen," Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.

Data out of Japan Friday added to selling pressure on the yen. Official figures showed household spending fell for a 13th consecutive month, confounding expectations for a rise, while core inflation came in at a lacklustre 0.3 percent.

The euro stood its ground in Tokyo trade, buying $1.0940 and 135.58 yen from $1.0947 and 135.70 yen in US trade.

However, investors are nervously watching events in Europe as Greece approaches a June 5 deadline to repay part of its debts, with no deal in sight on restructuring its bailout. Athens must find a compromise with its creditors that will unlock billions of dollars in cash to help it pay its bills.

The issue dominated a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers in Dresden Thursday, where International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said there was "a potential" for Greece to exit the eurozone.

While she told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that such a scenario would "probably not be an end to the euro", she added that it would not be "a walk in the park" for the bloc.

On oil markets US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery rose 55 cents to $58.23 while Brent crude for July gained 45 cents to $63.03.

Gold fetched $1,188.15 compared with $1,187.32 late Thursday.

In other markets:

-- Wellington rose 1.17 percent, or 67.31 points, to 5,844.95.

Fletcher Building was up 1.15 percent at NZ$8.76 and Air New Zealand gained 0.17 percent to NZ$2.99.

-- Taipei lost 0.12 percent, or 11.77 points, to close at 9,701.07.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.68 percent lower at Tw$146.0 while Fubon Financial Holding fell 1.25 percent to Tw$63.2.

dan/iw