It was kind of a mixed bag for stocks in Asia and Australia, as traders continued to digest announcements from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (BOJ).
The Nikkei 225 Index lost 53.6 points, or 0.3%, to 16,754.02. Japanese markets were shut on Thursday for a public holiday, after climbing nearly 2% Wednesday when the BOJ announced an overhaul of its monetary policy framework.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dipped 73.32 points, or 0.3%, to 23,686.48
Putting some pressure on Japanese stocks on Friday was a relatively high yen, which traded as high as 100.67 against the U.S. dollar, compared with levels above 102 on Wednesday before the Fed's policy decision. As of late Friday afternoon local time, the dollar/yen traded at 100.78.
Major Japanese export stocks were mixed, with Toyota finishing down 3.2% and Honda slipping 2.4%. Meanwhile, Nissan added 1% and Sony shares gained 0.8%. A stronger yen tends to weigh on exporters as it reduces the value of overseas earnings when they are translated back into their home currency.
Many Japanese banking stocks also closed down more than 1% each, with investors likely taking profits after shares rallied on the back of the BOJ's decision to not cut interest rates further into negative territory on Wednesday. Negative interest rates affect the profit margins of banks.
Mitsubishi UFJ closed down 1.5%, SMFG slid 1.6% and Mizuho Financial fell 1.9%.
Australian markets bucked the downward trend and strengthened, with the heavily-weighted financial sector gaining 1.2% The gold sector, however, dropped 2.1% For the week, the ASX 200 posted a 2.5% gain.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dropped 15.45 points, or 0.5%, to 3,275.67
The Straits Times Index in Singapore regained 10.89 points, or 0.4%, to 2,856.95
The Kospi index in Korea added 4.37 points, or 0.2%, to 2,054.07
In Taiwan, the Taiex index moved higher 49.36 points, or 0.5%, to 9,284.62
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 shed 14.97 points, or 0.2%, to 7,296.74
In Australia, the ASX 200 took on 56.84 points, or 1.1%, to 5,431.30
