HONG KONG—Asian markets closed higher Friday on reassurance from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that "the ECB is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro," while South Korea was the strongest performer as Samsung Electronics reported record profit.
During a speech in London, Mr. Draghi gave his strongest signal to date that the central bank is poised to undertake massive purchases in the euro-zone bond market if the situation worsens.
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"These comments are very positive," said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital. "It has always been within the power of the ECB to bring an end to financial panic sweeping Europe."
The comments were made against a backdrop of climbing Spanish bonds yields, which reached a euro-era high of 7.7% on Wednesday, creating worries that the bank bailout agreed on in June might not be sufficient to stabilize Spain's ailing economy.
Friday's gains helped some markets recover from the earlier weak sessions: South Korea's Kospi and Australia's S&P ASX 200 both finished the week 0.3% up. In addition, both Japan's Nikkei Average and the Kospi crept back into positive territory for the year.
The next step will be to see whether the ECB will deliver, as attention shifts to the central bank's policy meeting next week. There are also rising hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve could also undertake more monetary stimulus when its Federal Open Market Committee meets next week.
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