Asia stocks fell Friday, as revived concerns over Europe in the wake of a downgrade of Spanish debt offset the Bank of Japan’s announcement of fresh easing measures.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index eased 40.94 points, or 0.4%, to 9,520.89
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 68.26 points, or 0.3%, to 20,741.45
Tokyo-listed shares first shot higher after the Bank of Japan said it would expand its asset-purchase program by five trillion yen ($61.88 billion U.S.), while keeping interest rates on hold as expected.
The Japanese yen weakened after the decision, with the U.S. dollar jumping well above the ¥81 level, before fading back to ¥80.85. The greenback had traded at ¥80.94 in late North American trading Thursday.
Earlier in the day, investors had sifted through a batch of Japanese data released just before the market open, including a weaker-than-expected rise in industrial production but a surprise jump in retail sales, ahead of the central bank decision.
Despite a 10.3% overall gain for retail sales, Tokyo-listed retailers were mostly weaker, as much of the increase was reportedly driven by car sales. FamilyMart Co. dropped 2.5% and J. Front Retailing Co. lost 2.6%.
Tokyo-listed Advantest Corp. jumped 7.2% after managing a quarterly profit, despite also posting a fiscal-year loss, while Kyocera Corp. rallied 4% despite a drop in profit, as the firm’s outlook tipped a recovery.
Shares in Japanese mobile telecom Softbank Corp. climbed 3.1% after announcing Thursday a 65% surge in fiscal-year profit and plans to hike dividends for the fiscal year.
But Nintendo Co. slumped 5.6% after posting its first annual loss in more than 30 years.
In Seoul, shares of Samsung Electronics Co. climbed 2.5% after the global tech major hit a fresh record first-quarter profit, boosted by strong sales of its mobile devices.
Macquarie Group Ltd. added 3% in Sydney after the investment bank’s 24% drop in annual profit broadly met expectations, and as it forecast a stronger outlook for 2013.
Solid earnings reports helped support Hong Kong, with PetroChina Co. rising 3% and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., better known as Sinopec, edging up 0.1% after releasing results.
Shares of BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd. rose 1.9% after releasing its first-quarter earnings results late Thursday.
Strategists at Barclays Capital said BOC Hong Kong remained their favorite local Hong Kong bank, though they added they were "still cautious on the outlook for the Hong Kong banking sector and believe the mild easing of system liquidity year-to-date is a temporary phenomenon."
Still, Bank of China Ltd. lagged, shedding 1.5% after updating investors on its earnings.
Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. was a sharp underperformer, with shares plunging 15.8%, after it warned of wider losses next year.
China’s second-biggest brokerage by total assets, Haitong Securities Co., made its Hong Kong trading debut Friday, dropping 1.3% after having raised $1.68 billion U.S. in what is now the world’s biggest initial public offering of 2012 so far.
In other markets;
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 Index shaved off 5.33 points, or 0.2%, to 2,626.16
Korea’s Kospi Index advanced 11.31 points, or 0.6%, to 1,975.35
The Taiex index in Taiwan shed 40.85 points, or 0.5%, to 7,480.50
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 10.84 points, or 0.3%, to 3,531.66
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index erased 11.60 points, or 0.3%, to 4,433.40
