Most Asian markets finished in the red Friday, with worries about inflation weighing on indexes in Shanghai and Mumbai while Hong Kong stocks extended their decline ahead of a long weekend.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index sank 2.1 per cent to 13,655.3. Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 1.5 per cent to 25,063.2, extending its losing streak to a third straight session.
In Tokyo, sentiment was downbeat throughout the day after investors were jolted by Toyota Motor Corp.'s announcement Thursday that its fiscal fourth quarter profit dropped 28 per cent from a year ago and that it expected this fiscal year's profit to tumble 27 per cent.
Toyota dropped 3.3 per cent, and other Japanese automakers also got hit. Nissan Motor Co. fell 1.6 per cent and Honda Motor Co. lost 3.9 per cent.
Sony Corp. was also down, dropping 3.1 per cent.
Internet and mobile phone provider Softbank Corp. fell 2.7 per cent, even though it said Thursday that its net profit more than doubled in the fiscal fourth quarter.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.2 per cent to 3,613.5 points. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.5 per cent to 1,097.4.
The Shanghai benchmark fell as much as 2.9 per cent earlier in the day after the government reported that the producer price index, a key inflation indicator, rose 8.1 per cent in April compared with the same month a year ago.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Weighted index lost 0.8% to 8,792.39.
South Korea's Kospi gave up 1.3% to 1,823.70.
Singapore's Straits Times Index slipped 0.3% to 3,162.03.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200, meanwhile, rose 0.9% to 5,771.80, ending the week with a gain of more than 1%.
with files from other wire services
