Asian markets were mixed Friday as investors pondered a deluge of economic data and corporate earnings.
The Nikkei 225 Index regained 109.99 points, or 0.6%, to finish the week at 17,446.41, despite the weaker economic data released. A weaker yen likely drove the market's gains.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 177.54 points, or 0.8%, to 22,954.81
The U.S. dollar-yen pair broke past 105 levels around the time of London Stock Exchange's close, on the back of a stronger dollar. The currency pair was trading at 105.31 as of late afternoon local time, but may struggle to remain above 105
Data showed that Japan's September consumer price inflation was down 0.5% from a year earlier, the seventh straight month of falling prices, while September household spending also fell 2.1%. One bright spot in Japan's economic news flow on Friday was the pickup in its September jobless rate which fell to 3%, from 3.1% in August.
Australian markets finished downward, weighed by declines in its financials sub-index, which was down 0.6% along with its REITs sub-index which fell 1.1%. Losses were partly offset by strength in the energy sub-index, which gained 1.7%, and the materials sector, up 1.4%.
On the corporate news front, shares of Macquarie Group, Australia's only homegrown investment bank, rose 1.7% to 81.76 Australian dollars ($62.06 U.S.) each after it posted half-year profits of 1.05 billion Australian dollars versus estimates of 999 million Australian dollars.
Meanwhile, ANZ, one of the big four banks in Australia, announced it would take 360 million Australian dollars ($275 million U.S.) in one-time charges in the second half. ANZ shares fell 1.7% to 27.62 Australian dollars ($20.96 U.S.) each.
In Australia, the Bureau of Statistics reported that third-quarter producer prices rose 0.3% from the previous quarter.
In Singapore, United Overseas Bank (UOB) shares traded 2.2% lower at S$18.53 ($13.28 U.S.) after it reported its third-quarter profit fell 7.9% year-on-year to $791 million U.S., hurt by rising bad debt allowances from the oil and gas sector.
Asia-based oil majors were mostly higher. Australia's Santos was up 1.14% while Oil Search rose 2.7% and Woodside Petroleum was up 1.4% Japan's Inpex was up 0.8% and Japan Petroleum was up 1.4% China Petroleum was up 0.6% while Petrochina was up 0.1%
In other markets
The CSI 300 in Shanghai dropped 5.57 points, or 0.2%, to 3,340.13
In Korea, the Kospi dipped 4.7 points, or 0.2%, to 2,019.42
The Straits Times Index in Singapore slid 12.68 points, or 0.5%, to 2,816.26
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index recovered 7.37 points, or 0.1%, to 9,306.42
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 1.35 points to 6,943.31
In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 11.7 points, or 0.2%, to 5,283.84
