Asian shares turned positive on Friday as currency swings captured attention with the yuan midpoint fixed at its lowest against the dollar since May 2008 and Japan stocks up slightly on recent yen weakness.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index jumped 127.36 points, or 0.7%, to end the week at 19.401.15, boosted by a weaker yen. A weaker yen usually supports exporters as it can increase earnings that are repatriated, particularly on sales made in dollars, and makes pricing more competitive abroad.
The yen weakened further against the dollar, fetching 118.13, compared to levels around 115 prior to the U.S. Federal Reserve decision.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped 38.65 points, or 0.2%, to 22,020.75
Nintendo plummeted 4.2% to 26,405 yen per share, and down more than 10.8% this week. Investors were cautious ahead of the "Super Mario Run" smartphone game release on Apple's iOS. This is the Japanese gaming giant's first iPhone mobile game launch, and has raised concern among investors about its profitability.
The Hong Kong-listed China Huishan Dairy suspended trading on Friday after a report from U.S.-based short-seller Muddy Waters released a report questioning the firm's profits. The report accused China Huisan Dairy of inflating spending on its cattle firms to raise capital expenditure figures.
Australian markets trimmed off some earlier gains, weighed by heavy losses in the all-ordinaries gold sub-index, which plunged 6.7%.
The major gold miners were in the red. Newcrest Mining was off 4.7% to 16.75 Australian dollars per share, Evolution Mining plunged 8.3% to A$1.61 and Alacer Gold was down 1.3% at A$1.905.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7357 U.S.
Shares of animal vaccine makers were driven higher after South Korea's agriculture ministry raised the bird flu alert status to the highest level, as the disease spread nationwide.
Cheil Bio was up 6.8% to 5,110 Korean won, while Choong Ang Vaccine rose 1.2% to 25,300 won.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 moved up 5.6 points, or 0.2%, to 3,346.03
The People’s Bank of China set the daily yuan mid-point fix at 6.9508 versus its last close at 6.9478. The yuan fetched 6.9466 per U.S. dollar as of late afternoon
Chinese policymakers have been rushing to curb capital outflows and spending foreign exchange reserve to support the yuan, after the Fed raised rates and the dollar hit 14-year highs. China's foreign exchange reserves fell more-than-expected to a six-year low of $3.05 trillion U.S. in November.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi added 5.59 points, or 0.3%, at 2,042.24
The Straits Times Index in Singapore gained 7.09 points, or 0.2%, to 2,937.86
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index sank 33.57 points, or 0.4%, to 9,326.78
The NZX 50 regained 11.63 points, or 0.2%, at 6,760.25
Australia's ASX 200 inched back 5.65 points, or 0.1%, at 5,532.93
