Asian markets ended the week on a high note, boosted by reassurances from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that risks to economic activity continue to lie on the downside.

Export-focused stocks were heartened by Draghi's statement, and his reiteration of a commitment to start buying the bonds of cash-strapped Eurozone countries as soon as the required conditions are fulfilled.

Japanese stocks suffered a blip after the Bank of Japan opted not to announce fresh monetary easing initiatives, but the Nikkei recovered to finish slightly higher.

The decision by the Bank of Japan to leave its asset purchase programme and key interest rate unchanged was not a major surprise, despite indications that the Japanese government would have preferred some more monetary initiatives. The Japanese central bank said it expects consumer price inflation to remain at minimal levels for the near-future.

Samsung, the TV and mobile phone giant, topped estimates with its third-quarter earnings.

The Korean company posted 91% profit growth to 8.10bn Korean won ($7.3bn), beating the consensus estimate of 7.58bn won.

Revenues rose by 26% from a year earlier, mainly due to the surge in sales of its Galaxy S III mobile phone and its new tablet devices. The two product lines helped offset the declining earnings in the memory card business. Television sales have also risen.

Total sales reached 52bn won, also beating the consensus estimate of 51.6bn won.

Things were less cheery for Samsung competitor LG Display, which saw its shares downgraded to "hold" from "buy" by Korea Investments.

JH

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