Hong Kong stocks led declines in Asia-Pacific on Friday, as shares of Alibaba plunged in early trading, while most markets cooled off from a mid-week rally sparked by hopes of easing U.S. inflation.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 160.79 points, or 0.5%, to 33,585.20.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slumped 378.63 points, or 3.9%, to 17,454.19, dragged lower by heavyweight Alibaba which fell close to 10%. Still, the HSI was set to end the week with gains of about 1.5%.
The Chinese e-commerce giant said it would not proceed with the full spinoff of its cloud group due to U.S. chip export restrictions.
In South Korea, indexes closed Friday lower, closing out the week with gains of 2.5%.
Australian markets also ended the day lower, but clocked a 1% rise for the week.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 docked 4.29 points, or 0.1%, to 3,568.07, and was the only major Asia market that registered a weekly fall, lower by about 0.6%.
Investors also digested high-level discussions between the United States and China. Economic data in the region will be parsed through the day.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index faded 8.38 points or 0.3%, to 3,124.67.
In Taiwan, the Taiex added 37.77 points, or 0.2%, to 17,208.95.
In Korea, the Kospi index ditched 18.33 points, or 0.7%, to 2,469.85.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 53.91 points, or 0.5%, to 11,176.97.
In Australia, the ASX 200 slid 9.03 points, or 0.1%, to 7,049.39.
