The rally continued for stocks in mainland China, capping nearly two weeks of wild trading and resuming a rally that has made China one of the best global performers in 2015 so far.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index faded 27.29 points, or 0.1%, to 20,460.90,
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index tumbled 291.73, or 1.1%, to 27,260.16.
Elsewhere in the region, Australian stocks fell for a fifth consecutive day, capping their worst week in three years, after investors were shaken by a cocktail of weak local economic data and heightened volatility in global financial markets.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down, bringing losses for the week to 4.8% and eroding most of what was left of strong gains posted in the opening months of 2015.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 picked up 49.24 points, or 1%, to 5,231.22
After staging a rally for much of the year, shares in China have been volatile since late last week, when the Shanghai index crashed 6.5% in a single session on May 28, and fell over 5% Thursday at midday before rapidly recovering to close up.
Much of the big swings recently have been sparked by worries over a clampdown on margin trading, where brokers lend credit to investors that allows them to ramp up their bets on the stock market. But at the same time, the government has been at pains to reassure investors.
In the short term, there is a subtle shift in investment preference for larger cap stocks, such as banks, over small-cap stocks, whose valuations are much higher and more risky to trade, said Li.
The release of cash earmarked for recent initial public offerings back into the market was also spurring the optimism Friday. Investors typically apply for allocation, but only receive a fraction of what they asked for because of heavy demand.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index dipped 4.76 points, or 0.2%, to 2,068.10
In Taiwan, the Taiex gave back 8.50 points, or 0.1%, to 9,340.13
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index lost 11.33 points, or 0.3%, to 3,333.67
The NZX 50 eked up 2.46 points to 5,867.90
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 5.84 points, or 0.1%, to 5,498.46
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