Asian markets mostly declined Friday, with Shanghai listed shares suffering steep declines as airlines such as China Eastern Airlines Corp. skidded on worries about high oil prices, while fears of a slowdown in corporate earnings hurt steel and power companies.
The Nikkei 225 index gained 78.15 points, or 0.58 percent, to 13,476.15. The blue chip Hang Seng Index fell 61.18 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 24,197.78.
Toshiba Corp. hit a fresh 12-month high of 850 yen, rising 2 per cent on an expected recovery in its chip operations following strong results earlier this week from U.S. sector bellwether Intel.
Mazda Motor Corp. chalking up a 5.9 percent rise, while industry giant Toyota Motor Corp. rose 2 per cent. Traders said a strengthening of the dollar to above 102 yen from 100 yen recently helped exporters.
On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 128.07 points, or 4 percent, to 3,094.66, its lowest close since March 23, 2007.
Market heavyweight PetroChina fell 5 percent to 16.02 yuan, dropping below its IPO offering price of 16.70 yuan for the first time since it began trading in October.
Elsewhere:
Anxieties about bank earnings and a decline in metals prices hurt stocks in Australia, where the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 89.3 points or 1.6 percent to 5,429.7.
South Korea's Kospi, meanwhile, inched up 0.2 percent to 1,771.9.
Taiwan's main index dipped 0.2 percent to 9.074.34.
Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.3% to 3,116.89.
with files from other wire services
