NIKKEI

Debates are raging over whether Japan needs charitable financial help to recover, but one way money has been flowing into the country is in the form of foreign purchases of Japanese stocks as investors snap up hammered shares.

A resilient performance by Japanese shares helped stocks in Europe and the U.S. Thursday, while the yen pulled back from a record high against the dollar amid expectations that finance chiefs from the world's industrialized nations will discuss how to ease the currency's rise.

China's National Bureau of Statistics reported that the country's consumer price index rose 4.9% in January. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1% and in China the Shanghai Composite Index remained virtually unchanged. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up 0.2%.

Continuing unrest in Egypt sent shock waves through stock markets as far away as Japan, where the Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index also dropped 0.7%. In China the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.4%.

Shares in Asia slid lower Friday as investors reacted to Chinese government moves to tighten credit and clamp down on inflation. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.8% to 22,877, and in China, the Shanghai Composite sank 0.9% to 2,872. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down 0.4% to 10,040.

Although Japan's stock market has been weak for the last 20 years, there are signs that a shift may be under way that could transform that nation into the gateway to Asia's emerging-market consumers. For patient investors looking for a contrarian play with huge upside potential, it's time to re-examine Japan.

In Asia on Tuesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.1%, China's Shanghai Composite inched down 0.3%. and in Japan, the Nikkei 225 crept up 0.1%. Investors are closely monitoring the U.S. midterm elections, with many predicting that if the Democrats lose their majorities in both the House and the Senate, the dollar will continue to slide.

The yen tumbled as much as 3% in today's trading as the Bank of Japan intervened in the currency markets by buying dollars and selling yen in an attempt to halt the surge in the value of the yen. Relieved investors plowed money into exporters, sending the Nikkei up 2.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng inched up 0.1% and in China, the Shanghai Composite sank 1.3%.

Toyota Motor (TM) has reached an agreement with one of the world's largest steelmakers that raises prices the automaker pays for steel, according to a report. Under terms of the pact, Toyota will pay an additional 20,000 yen ($220) a metric ton to Nippon Steel in the April-September period compared...

In Asia Wednesday, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.9% to 10,177. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index sank 0.9%, ending the day at 21,612 and China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6% to close at 3,255.