Japanese stocks rose for the first time in four sessions on Friday, helped by gains on Wall Street and a weaker yen, but investors remained cautious before big events next week.
The Nikkei 225 index regained 183.93 points, or 1%, to 19,230.48
The U.S. dollar was up 0.4 %at 122.06 yen, putting further distance between a one-month low of 121.075 plumbed earlier in the week.
The Hang Seng tumbled 240.56 points, or 1.1%, to 21,464.05
Problems at Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group also hurt investor sentiment.
Financial magazine Caixin late on Thursday cited unidentified sources saying that Guo Guangchang, the billionaire founder of Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group could not be contacted.
The media reports raised fears that Guo had become the latest victim in China's deepening anti-corruption probe, and triggered share suspensions on Friday by listed companies affiliated to Fosun, including Hong Kong-listed Fosun International Ltd.
Shares in Nissan finished 1.4% higher. Its French partner, car maker Renault, will hold a board meeting later in the day to discuss its long-standing conflict with the French government. Earlier in the year, the government raised its stake in the car maker to take advantage of new legislation that allowed for more voting rights to long investors.
On Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will start his state visit to India. Earlier, the New Delhi government approved a $14.7-billion U.S. Japanese proposal to build India's first bullet train line.
Japanese train stocks traded mixed on the back of this news. Shares in Kawasaki Heavy Industries ended up 0.2% Hitachi Transport added 0.4% and Nippon Sharyo saw gains of 0.3%
Blue chip shares ended mixed with Samsung Electronics flat at 0.1% and Posco down 0.3%. Shares in Hyundai Motor were also down 2%
The Australian market fell to a one-month low. Energy, materials, and industry sectors all weighed on the back of lower commodities and base metal prices.
Major banking stocks were mixed. According to reports, Westpac said Friday morning at its annual meeting it expects a modest lift in Australia's real rate of growth next year to around 2.8%
Resources stocks mostly traded in the red. Rio Tinto closed unchanged while and BHP Billiton was 1.6%.
CHINA
The Chinese markets traded lower ahead of another series of economic data due on Saturday, including retail sales, industrial production, and fixed asset investment.
The CSI 300 in Shanghai dripped 15.02 points, or 0.4%, to 3,608.06,
Elsewhere, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set its official midpoint rate at 6.4358 per U.S. dollar, its weakest level since August 2011 and 0.2% lower than Thursday's fix. The yuan traded lower at 6.4448 against the dollar.
Shares in Chinese brokerages and banks closed mixed. Citic Securitiespared losses to close up 0.2%, Founder Securities remained unchanged, and Huatai Securities was up 0.4%. Banks were down, some as much as 1.2%.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index faded 13.83 points, or 0.5%, to 2,834.63
The Kospi index in Korea settled 3.45 points, or 0.2%, to 1,948.62
Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 100.28 points, or 1.2%, to 8,115.89
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 29.38 points, or 0.5%, to 6,069.64
The ASX 200 slipped 8.27 points, or 0.2%, to 5,029.45
