Asian stock markets ended mixed Friday, helped by a major turnaround in Tokyo as shares there rebounded from losses amid stimulus hopes and the potential for government action to stem the recent rise in Japan's yen.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 84.58 points, or 1%, to 8,991.06.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 14.71 points, or 0.1%, however, to 20,597.35, for its sixth straight negative session.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan stepped up the tone of his warnings against the strengthening yen after the market closed, telling reporters in Tokyo: "Excessive movement in the currency market is bad for the economy and financial markets. I will take decisive action when necessary."
Much of Friday's trading was tempered ahead of the latest revised estimate due out for U.S. gross domestic product for the second quarter, followed by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's address to an annual meeting of central bankers and top financial officials in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Markets also were looking ahead to quarterly GDP data due from Australia next week.
Moreover, investors await China's manufacturing purchasing managers indexes for August, due out Wednesday. An HSBC-compiled index showed activity in July contracted for the first time in 16 months.
Japanese exporter shares cheered the yen's retreat, with Nissan Motor gaining 3.2% and Honda Motor adding 1.6%, while Sony Corp. rose 2.7%.
Toyota Motor lagged, rising 0.4%, after the auto maker on Thursday said it would conduct a safety recall involving about 1.3 million Corollas sold in the U.S. and Canada to correct engine-control modules that may have been improperly manufactured.
Asahi Breweries shares traded up 0.9 % after it agreed to acquire P&N Beverages Australia -- Australia's third-biggest soft drink maker by sales volume -- for about 27.2 billion yen ($322.2 million U.S.).
The Japanese maker of beer and soft drinks aims to merge P&N Beverages with Schweppes, which Asahi bought in 2009 for $774 million U.S.
In Hong Kong, shares of PetroChina fell 0.7% after the company unveiled lower-than-expected first-half financial results Thursday.
Australian shares pared losses to end nearly unchanged or marginally higher, with National Australia Bank rising 0.2% but with BHP Billiton giving up 0.2%.
Seeing strong gains, Fairfax shares jumped 4.4% after the media group posted a 23% year-to-year rise in underlying fiscal-year profit that topped market expectations.
Also higher in Sydney, shares of Santos added 1.6% after a person with direct knowledge of the matter Friday told Dow Jones Newswires that Korea Gas, South Korea's largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, is in the final stage of talks with the Australian company to purchase more than two million tons a year of the fuel from its Gladstone project and is planning to acquire an equity stake of about 10% in the project.
In Seoul, Korea Gas added 1.2%.
Shares in Seoul pared earlier losses, though technology issues remained soft.
Samsung Electronics fell 0.9%, and LG Display dropped 1.5%. Helping to contain the market's pullback, Hyundai Motor rose 1.5% while Samsung Heavy Industries advanced 2.9%.
KB Financial tacked on 2.1% after its Kookmin Bank unit said it's preparing for voluntary early retirement by employees, giving rise to hopes that KB Financial as a whole can push ahead with restructuring efforts to improve operational efficiency.
Anticipation of government action helped the dollar and euro rally against the yen, with the dollar hitting ¥84.72, up from ¥84.41 yen in late North American trading Thursday, while the euro rose to ¥107.76 from ¥107.38.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index inched higher 8.47 points, or 0.3%, to 2,858.57
China Life Insurance the nation's biggest life insurer by premiums, also fell, off 1.8% to end at a 13-month low.
Meanwhile, Chinese lender ICBC ended 1.3% higher, gaining after reporting half-year net income rose 27% from a year earlier to 84.6 billion yuan ($12.44 billion U.S.). Bank of China, which also released results Thursday, saw its shares move up 0.5%.
Elsewhere;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 12.87 points, or 0.4% to 2,938.74
Korea’s Kospi index gave back 0.20 points to 1,729.56
Taiwan’s Taiex Index increased 33.17 points, or 0.4%, to 7,722.91
New Zealand’s NZX index fell 10.81 points, or 0.4%, to 3,007.44
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved higher 14.10 points, or 0.3%, to 4,370.10
