Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, following a quiet overnight trading session with U.S. markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Japanese markets returned from holiday, as the Nikkei 225 index gained 27.7 points, or 0.1%, to 22,550.85
The Hang Seng Index recovered 158.38 points, or 0.5%, to 29,866.32
Losses were seen in Japan in automakers and manufacturing names. Technology stocks were a mixed picture: Nintendo rose 3.6% SoftBank Group gained 1.4% and Sharp was down 1.3% the end of the day.
Shares of Mitsubishi Materials tumbled 8.1% by the end of the day in Tokyo after the company acknowledged that some of its units falsified product data to meet requirements. That news followed a similar data falsification scandal at Kobe Steel.
Australian department store chain Myer reversed earlier losses to closed up 1.4% after the company's annual general meeting on Friday. The retailer's board recently faced off against Solomon Lew, a dissident shareholder whose Premier Investments group has a 10.8% stake in Myer, according to local media.
Also in retail news, e-commerce giant Amazon launched trial operations in Australia on Thursday.
Against the yen, the U.S. dollar was a touch firmer at 111.47.
In Australia, the industrials and information technology sub-indexes fell 0.4% and 0.7% respectively by the end of the session.
CHINA
Chinese stocks ended the week more than 1% lower after a heavy selloff in the previous session.
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 recouped 1.8 points to 4,104.20. Insurers closed mostly lower, although banks and brokerages finished the session mixed. Airlines finished the session with significant gains, with China Eastern Airlines rising 5% on the day.
SenseTime Group, a Chinese artificial intelligence company, reportedly intends to launch an initial public offering. SenseTime is also attempting to expand in the U.S., with plans to begin a research and development unit in the country as early as 2018 in the works.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index picked up 7.18 points, or 0.3%, to 2,544.33
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index dropped 0.48 points to 10,854.09
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 18.98 points, or 0.6%, to 3,422.15
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 improved 28.34 points, or 0.4%, to 8,130.29
In Australia, the ASX 200 removed 3.64 points, or 0.1%, to 5,982.55
