Asia markets closed mixed Friday, amid a muted reaction to China's gross domestic product (GDP) numbers for the first quarter, which matched forecasts.
The Nikkei 225 deleted 63.02 points, or 0.4%, to end the week at 16,848.03, on the back of a relatively weaker yen. Japanese stocks mostly ignored an earthquake that struck southwestern Japan on Thursday. The index added 6.4% for the week.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped 21.34 points, or 0.1%, to 21,316.47
The Japanese yen held fairly steady against the U.S. dollar, with the pair trading at 109.35
Major Japanese exporters were mixed, with shares of automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda closing down as much as 2.2%, likely due to profit taking. Shares of Toshiba advanced 0.3%.
Australian markets bolted higher after the energy and materials sub-indexes reversed losses of nearly 1% in early trade. The heavily-weighted financials sub-index closed up 0.5%. For the week, the main index advanced 4.5%
Energy plays ended mixed, with shares of Santos adding 0.5%, Woodside Petroleum advancing 2% and Inpex down 2.3%
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 index slid 3.63 points, or 0.1%, to 3,273.21
Chinese mainland oil shares were mostly lower, with China Oilfield losing 0.7%.
China's National Bureau of Statistics released the country's first quarter GDP numbers for 2016, which showed the economy expanded by 6.7% on-year, in line with forecasts that growth has moderately eased. For the December quarter, the reading was at 6.8%.
Analysts said the data showed China's economy was stabilizing, but there is still work ahead for the government. Chinese data showed total value of imports and exports in the first quarter of 2016 declined 5.9% on-year.
The Chinese yuan traded at 6.4835 to the U.S. dollar in the afternoon, after the People's Bank of China set the yuan mid-point fix at 6.4908.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.
In other markets;
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index added 32.68 points, or 0.4%, to 8,700.39
In Korea, the Kospi index eased 1.22 points, or 0.1%, to 2,014.71
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 10.01 points, or 0.3%, to 2,923.94
New Zealand’s NZX 50 gained 20.93 points, or 0.3%, to 6,844.74
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved higher 38.86 points, or 0.8%, to 5,157.48
