Major Asian markets closed modestly higher Friday after wavering between gains and losses, although major indexes in Australia and Japan posted weekly losses.
The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo regained 59.81 points, or 0.4%, to 16,545.82, posting a weekly decline of 2.2%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index faded 85.94 points, or 0.4%, to 22,937.22
The Japanese yen briefly strengthened as high as 99.84 against the U.S. dollar, before retreating to levels near 100.21 in the afternoon. On Thursday, the yen climbed as high as 99.62 during Asian hours.
But the currency's relative weakness compared with Thursday's session helped support shares of major exporters, with Toyota closing up 2.1%, Honda adding 3.5% and Mazda gaining 2.3%.
Elsewhere on the currency front, the Korean won weakened sharply against the U.S. dollar, trading as low as 1120.60, compared with its last close at 1107.13.
The modestly positive session in Asia followed a higher finish stateside amid rising oil prices. Oil received a boost in sentiment on further news suggesting OPEC and other major exporters could consider a deal to tackle the global oversupply. That sent oil futures climbing more than 2% on Thursday.
During late afternoon in Asia, however, oil prices retreated modestly. U.S. crude futures slipped slightly, down 0.1% to $48.19 U.S. a barrel, while global benchmark Brent fell 0.5% to $50.64 U.S.
Major Australian banks initially sold off in early trade after ratings agency Moody's on Friday morning said it revised the rating outlooks of five Australian banks to negative from stable. The banks with revised outlooks include the country's so-called Big Four: ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac.
But bank shares later mostly recovered, with CBA turning positive, rising 0.5%. National Bank of Australia shares also erased early losses of more than 1% to close up 0.1%.
In company news, shares of Samsung Electronics climbed 2.1%, at 1,675,000 won. The smartphone giant's shares hit an all-time closing high on Thursday, giving it a market capitalization of 232 trillion won ($210 billion U.S.), as investors cheered the company's turnaround plans.
Shares of Singapore Telecommunications traded down 0.5%, after the telco announced on Thursday it would acquire a stake in Thailand's Intouch Holdings and boost its holding in India's Bharti Telecom to take advantage of faster growth in emerging markets.
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 inched ahead 0.53 points to 3,365.02
The Taiex Index in Taiwan dipped 88.23 points, or 1%, to 9,034.27
In Korea, the Kospi index gained 0.77 points to 2,056.24
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index recouped 7.04 points, or 0.3%, to 2,844.02
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 grew 20.13 points, or 0.3%, to 7,405.25
The ASX 200 restored 18.86 points, or 0.3%, to 5,526.68, but lost 0.1% on the week.
