Tokyo stocks ended on a downbeat note Friday, with consumer electronic manufacturers and automotive stocks among those pressuring the Japanese benchmark, while miners and oil shares underpinned gains in Sydney.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index sank 96.68 points, or 0.72 percent, to 13,293.22.
Japanese steel shares were lower Friday, dragged down by negative sentiment trigged by a report Tokyo Steel Manufacturing will stop exporting steel products mid-April due to surging scrap iron prices and a rising yen. Tokyo Steel lost 2.7 and Nippon Steel dropped 2.4 percent.
Among Tokyo gainers, shares of Marubeni Corp. surged more than 4% following reports a consortium that includes the Japanese company has made a potentially significant oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico. Marubeni's U.S. subsidiary holds an 11.25% stake in a BP Plc-led consortium that announced an oil deposit discovery in deep water about 60 miles southeast of the Louisiana Coast.
Elsewhere:
Australia's S&P/ASX climbed 0.2% to 5,619.60.
In South Korea, the Composite Stock Index, or Kospi, declined 0.2% to 3,631.23.
India's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, ranked as the weakest regional markets, with the index contracting 2.2%.
Indonesia's main index rose 1.7 per cent after the previous day's plunge.
with files from other wire services
