Asian stocks closed mixed on Friday, as the overnight rally on Wall Street failed to translate after President Donald Trump indicated that more tariffs against China could be in the works.
The Nikkei 225 Index retreated 77.9 points, or 0.4%, to 21,567.52, closing above its 200-day moving average. Despite the move lower amid elevated trade tensions, the benchmark finished the week higher by around 0.5%.
Against the yen, the U.S. dollar traded at 107.38, trading at levels seen before the statement.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index shot up 326.25 points, or 1.1%, to 29,944.94, shrugging off jitters seen in the rest of the region as markets returned from a one-day holiday. The heavily weighted financials sector traded in positive territory and index heavyweight Tencent advanced 2%an hour ahead of the market close.
Markets in Shenzhen and Taiwan were closed for the Ching Ming Festival on Friday.
Australian markets closed flat Friday, with gains in the materials and energy sub-indexes offset by declines in heavily weighted financials.
In corporate news, Samsung Electronics said its first-quarter operating profit was expected to climb 57.6% compared to one year ago.The forecast profit of 15.6 trillion won ($14.7 billion U.S.) was above an estimate of 14.5 trillion won. Samsung stock was down 0.7%.
Meanwhile, shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical tumbled 5.03 percent. The decline came on the back of comments from its CEO, who made the case for buying London-listed drugmaker Shire at a Thursday briefing.
Trump said late on Thursday during U.S. hours that he has told U.S. trade officials to consider $100 billion in extra tariffs against China. The president added that the move would be appropriate given China's "unfair retaliation," although he left the door open for negotiation.
In response, China's commerce ministry said that it would fight back should the U.S. move forward with protectionist trade measures, Xinhua reported.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi dropped 7.94 points, or 0.3%, to 2,429.58
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 36.85 points, or 1.1%, to 3,442.50
In New Zealand, the NZD 50 Index gained 29.28 points, or 0.4%, to 8,393.27
In Australia, the ASX 200 Index ducked lower 0.07 points to 5,788.74
