Asia markets ended mixed on Friday, with the Japanese benchmark index reversing losses on the back of a relatively weaker yen.
The Nikkei 225 gained 71.68 points, or 0.5%, to conclude the week at 15,821.52, reversing losses of over 1 percent after Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said the government would take steps as needed to arrest the yen's climb.
Despite the late bounce, the index still lost over 2% for the week.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong moved higher 104.35 points, or 0.5%, to 20,370.40
The U.S. dollar/yen pair saw slight recovery Friday afternoon, trading at 108.73. This was compared to the pair falling as low as 107.67 overnight, near the lowest level for the pair since October 2014.
Major Japanese exporters reversed morning losses, taking cues from the yen's relative weakness to the dollar Friday. A stronger yen is a negative for exporters as it affects their overseas profits when converted into local currency.
Shares of Toyota closed up 0.8%, Honda up 1.1% and Sony adding 1.4%. Nissan shares finished up 2.4%
Shares of the Japanese retailer Fast Retailing slumped 12.7%, after the company trimmed its profit outlook on Thursday. Reuters reported that Fast Retailing's quarterly profits were hurt by price cuts at its clothing chain Uniqlo.
In its fiscal second quarter, Fast Retailing reported an operating profit of 23.4 billion yen ($215 million U.S.), down from 58.7 billion in the same period a year ago, and said it expected operating profit for the full year through end-August to be at 120 billion yen compared to a previous outlook of 180 billion yen in January
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7536 U.S., after trading as high as $0.7637 U.S. on Thursday.
Energy plays in Asia were mixed, with shares of Santos closing up 0.3%. Oil Search was higher by 0.3% and Inpex adding 1.4%
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 index dipped 23.56 points, or 0.7%, to 3,185.73.
Chinese mainland energy stocks closed mostly lower, with Sinopec off 3.8%.
The Chinese yuan was weaker against the U.S. dollar on Friday, with the pair trading up 0.3% at $6.4796 U.S.
Before market open, the People's Bank of China set the yuan mid-point at 6.4733 to the greenback. China's central bank lets the yuan spot rate rise or fall a maximum of 2% against the dollar relative to the official fixing rate.
Data released on Thursday showed China's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March to $3.21 trillion U.S., compared to a poll forecast of a drop to $3.18 trillion and a print of $3.20 trillion in February. This was the first monthly increase since November, but reserves are still down sharply from their peak of $3.99 trillion U.S. in June 2014
In other markets;
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index acquired 51.25 points, or 0.6%, to 8,541.50
In Korea, the Kospi index settled 1.84 points, or 0.1%, to 1,972.05
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gave up 5.27 points, or 0.2%, to 2,808.32
New Zealand’s NZX 50 decreased 24.95 points, or 0.4%, to 6,730.28
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved backward 26.46 points, or 0.5%, to 4,937.62
