Japan stocks recovered some ground on Friday morning after two straight days of declines
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 211.35 points, or 1.2%, to 17,459.85, as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar, trading at ¥118.12 from ¥117.62 in the previous session.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 16.83 points, or 0.1%, to 23,987.45
Data showed Japan's October retail sales rose 1.4% on year and industrial production beat forecasts with a month-on-month increase of 0.2%. However, the inflation rate slowed to its lowest level in a year.
Auto makers mostly bounced back, as Toyota Motor Corp. gained 1.4%, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. added 0.9%, and Mazda Motor Corp. moved up 0.7%. Electronics giant Toshiba Corporation improved by 1.4%, and console maker Nintendo Co., Ltd. zoomed 1.3% higher.
However, energy shares suffered heavy losses after international crude prices sank to a four-and-a-half year low, with Inpex Corporation tumbling 5.2%, and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. sliding 2.9%.
In Hong Kong, energy shares also took a beating as offshore oil producer Cnooc Ltd. slid 5.7%, China's largest oil producer PetroChina Co. Ltd. declined 4%, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, also known as Sinopec tumbled 3%.
Among other energy plays, China Oilfield Services Ltd. skidded 6%, and China Oil & Gas Group Ltd. lost 2.5%. However, airlines and shipping stocks rallied on declining oil prices, as Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. surged 6.4%, Air China Ltd. spiked 5.4%, and China Eastern Airlines Corporation Ltd. leapt 5.2%.
Other top outperformers in the shipping sector included China COSCO Holdings Ltd. soaring 6.3%, China Shipping Container Lines Co. Ltd. jumping 5.6%, SITC International Holdings Co., Ltd. climbing 4.7%.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index gained 54.33 points, or 2%, to 2,808.82
Singapore’s Straits Times Index recovered 9.54 points, or 0.3%, to 3,350.50
The Taiex index in Taiwan advanced 21.84 points, or 0.2%, to 9,187.15
Korea’s Kospi index erased 1.31 points, or 0.1%, to 1,980.78
New Zealand’s Exchange 50 subtracted 30.93 points, or 0.6%, to 5,424.45
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell back 87.92 points, or 1.6%, to 5,313.
