Major markets in Asia closed mostly lower on Friday after wavering between positive and negative territory as investors focused on economic data, central bank decisions and commodity prices.
The Nikkei 225 index saw its win streak come to a screeching halt, settling 366.76 points, or 1.9%, to 19,986.80
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong retreated 116.5 points, or 0.5%, to 21,755.56
Markets in Japan took a wild ride, erasing early losses and spiking higher briefly after the Bank of Japan said it will increase purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), before retreating back into negative territory.
The BOJ kept monetary policy unchanged as expected, but the central bank announced a new program to purchase ETFs at annual pace of 300 billion yen ($2.45 billion U.S.).
Inpex saw losses of 2.6%, and Japan Petroleum dropped 2.5% by the market close.
South Korean oil refineries ended mostly in the red. Shares of S-Oil, SK Innovation, and GS Holdings closed down as much as 2.6%
Energy plays in Australia closed mixed, with stocks of Santos,Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search closing down upwards of 1.3%
Evergrande's Hong Kong-listed shares were up 2.5%. Other Hong Kong-listed property stocks traded mostly in positive territory. Shares of CK Property traded down 1.5%, while Henderson Land rose 0.6% and Sino Land improved 2.1%.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai inched up 12.03 points, or 0.3%, to 3,767.91
China's new home prices for November were released, showing further signs of recovery in the economically sensitive sector. Overall housing prices rose 0.9% on-year in November, up from October's 0.1% tickup, according to Reuters calculations based on official data.
There were big jumps in tier-one cities, with Beijing new home prices rising 7.7% on-year and Shanghai's increasing 13.1%.
Chinese energy plays CNOOC, PetroChina and Sinopec traded down about 2.5%.
Property stocks in the mainland and in the protectorate were mixed.Vanke's A-shares were up 10%.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index dropped 8.34 points, or 0.3%, to 2,852.84
The Kospi index in Korea removed 2.64 points, or 0.1%, to 1,975.32
Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 62.35 points, or 0.8%, to 8,257.32
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 19.51points, or 0.3%, to 6,107.84
The ASX 200 moved up 4.65 points, or 0.1%, to 5,106.46
