Asian Shares Mixed

HONG KONG—Hong Kong stocks jumped Thursday as investors returned from a Lunar New Year holiday to cheer the Federal Reserve's projection of ultra-low interest rates through late 2014.

Other markets in the region were less enthusiastic, however, with gains in South Korea tempered by weaker-than-expected economic-growth data, while Japanese shares retreated from near a three-month high as investors locked in recent gains.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 1.6% higher at 20439.14, bringing its winning streak to five sessions.

"As the U.S. and European markets recover, investors are reentering the market and pushing up the Hang Seng Index," said Edward Huang, a strategist at Haitong Securities in Hong Kong, citing the Fed's interest-rate forecast. Mr. Huang said the local markets were likely to rise further, citing expectations that the European debt crisis will simmer down and China will ease its monetary policy in the near future.

South Korea's Kospi gained 0.3% to 1957.18, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.4% to 8849.47 after a mildly positive open. New Zealand's NZX-50 added 0.1% to 3281.68 and Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 0.1% to 2894.43.

Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese markets remain closed for the New Year holiday, while markets in Sydney were shut for Australia Day.

"Risk-on persists. It's bullish for Asian equities, which means confidence-sensitive capital inflows," Tim Condon, head of Asian economic research at ING Financial Markets Research, said in a note to clients. He said monetary easing in emerging markets and reduced policy uncertainty in advanced economies were behind his firm's more-upbeat view for risk assets in 2012 than in 2011.

Stock gains were spread broadly in Hong Kong, with trading and logistics firm Li & Fung gaining 3.5% and Aluminum Corp. of China jumping 3.3%. Property and banking names also jumped, with Sino Land climbing 4.8% and China Life Insurance advancing 4.3%.

Foxconn International Holdings climbed 4.5%, bolstered by Apple's solid quarterly results earlier in the week. The company is part of a group that manufactures the iPhone.

Heavyweight HSBC Holdings underperformed, finishing 0.8% higher after fluctuating between gains and losses. The banking giant confirmed Wednesday that a U.S. Senate panel is investigating it in connection with money laundering. The lender is also seeking buyers for its Japanese consumer-banking unit, Bloomberg News reported.

In Japan, Tokyo Electric Power surged 5.5% following reports that a government-backed fund plans to inject 1 trillion yen ($12.9 billion) into the company, owner of the earthquake-and-tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant.

KDDI rose 1.1% ahead of the quarterly earnings, released after the close of market. The company reported a 17% drop in net profit for the three months ended December, but lifted its full-year revenue outlook by 2.6%, saying it would benefit from growth in demand for Apple's iPhone 4S and other smartphones.

Many exporters lost ground after recent advances. Elpida Memory lost 2.7%, Sony gave up 1.4% and Canon shed 0.7%. Still, all three remained in the positive territory for the week. The Elpida decline came as the chip maker began presenting its main lenders with its a plan to form partnerships with Micron Technology of the U.S. and Taiwan's Nanya Technology, according to a Nikkei newspaper report. The Micron and Nanya tie-up plans had been reported earlier in the week by the Yomiuri Shimbun.

The losses also came as the dollar dipped back below ¥78, a level it had topped in U.S. trading Wednesday.

Machinery maker Fanuc fell 2%, giving up some recent advances after reporting a 22% jumm in April-December net profit Wednesday. The stock is still up nearly 9% for the year.

Gains in Seoul were muted after data showed fourth-quarter gross domestic product fell short of forecasts. Hyundai Motor fell 2.1%, while Hynix Semiconductor dropped 1.5%.