Asia markets were mixed Friday afternoon, with the Japanese market climbing to an 11-month high on the back of a relatively weaker yen.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan strengthened 104.78 points, or 0.6%, to end the week at 17,967.44, its highest level since Jan. 6.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong recovered 81.33 points, or 0.4%, to 22,344.21
The yen traded at 110.68 against the U.S. dollar early afternoon local time, compared with levels below 105.00 prior to the U.S. election results.
Investors were left with few details of a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in New York on Thursday.
After the meeting, Abe said he was confident of building trust with Trump when the latter takes office next year, but did not disclose the meeting's topics, saying the talks were unofficial.
Shares of major Japanese exporters climbed on Friday morning, with automakers Toyota up 2.7%, Nissan higher by 1.7%, Mazda up 3.8% and Honda gaining 1%. Electronics makers Sharp, Canon, Nikon and Sony retraced some of their morning gains to close mixed.
In South Korea, heavyweight Samsung Electronics beat the broader index to climb 1.15 percent. The Korean won traded at 1,181.75 against the dollar early afternoon, weakening from levels below 1,140.00 before the U.S. election results.
Australian markets perked, with the heavily-weighted financial sector finishing up 0.5%. The gold sector was down 3.2%, while the energy sector closed down 0.1%
The greenback strength saw major currencies weaken against it; the Australian dollar retreated from levels near $0.7560 to trade at $0.7388 Friday afternoon local time, while the euro fell from levels above $1.080 to $1.059.
One analyst pointed out that markets, particularly in Asia-Pacific, needed to take stock of what could happen once Trump takes office next year.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai dropped 19.07 points, or 0.6%, to 3,417.46
Shanghai's property sub-index outperformed the broader market, climbing 0.9% in the afternoon, following government data that showed average new home prices in China's 70 major cities rose 12.3% on-year in October, a faster pace than the 11.2% on-year rise in September
Property plays in China were mixed in the afternoon session, with Shenzhen-listed shares of Vanke up 3.9%, Gemdale erasing gains to trade down 0.7% and Poly Real Estate climbing 1.8%.
The Chinese renminbi was also weaker against the U.S. dollar. On-shore Chinese yuan traded at 6.89, falling from levels below 6.80 before the U.S. election results, while the off-shore yuan traded at 6.91.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi slid 5.97 points, or 0.3%, at 1,974.58
The Straits Times Index in Singapore gained 25.17 points, or 0.9%, to 2,838.65
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index added 13.53 points, or 0.2%, to 9,008.79
Markets in New Zealand were shuttered for holiday
Australia's benchmark ASX 200 increased 20.88 points, or 0.4%, at 5,359.42
