Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday, with indexes in Japan and South Korea falling as technology issues stumbled.
Japanese stocks slipped from a nine-month high Friday, as analysts said investors were selling export-related shares on the expectation the yen will rebound. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Index ended down 0.4 percent at 17,310.44.
Losers included Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., which fell 1.31 percent, and Advantest Corp., which posted a 3.53 percent drop. Toshiba Corp. lost 1.48 percent, while Nippon Oil Corp. fell 0.37 percent after crude prices fell US$1.76 to close last night at $50.48 a barrel.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng Index ended slightly higher, closing up 0.3 percent at 20,327.72. Gains were led by index heavyweights HSBC Holdings and China Mobile.
HSBC rose 1.1 percent to on a positive analyst report and signs of a rebound in the US housing market. China Mobile gained 0.4 percent. The two stocks comprise roughly half of the market capitalization of the Hang Seng Index.
Elsewhere:
BANGKOK: Thailand's SET ended up 0.5 percent.
BOMBAY: India's Bombay Sensex index rose 0.6 percent to 14,217.75.
JAKARTA: Indonesia's JSX Composite gained 1 percent.
KUALA LAMPUR: Malaysia's KLSE Composite ended flat.
MANILA: Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 0.1 percent.
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi index fell 1.6 percent to 1,360.56.
SHANGHAI: China's Shanghai Composite gained 2.7 percent.
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 0.4 percent to 3,072.88.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded flat at 5,673.10.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted Price Index declined 0.7 percent.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX-50 slipped 0.1 percent.
With files from wire services
