Stocks in Asia-Pacific wee mostly higher on Friday as investors watched regional technology stock movements following a decline in the sector stateside.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 171.02 points, or 0.7%, to 23,406.49. In Japan, shares of conglomerate Softbank Group were up 1% while Sharp dropped 1.6%.
The Japanese yen traded at 106.20 per U.S. dollar after changing hands at levels below 105.9 against the greenback earlier this week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng regained 189.77 points, or 0.8%, to 24,503.31. Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech juggernaut Tencent rose 2% while Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation jumped 6.8%.
Over in South Korea, industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics saw its stock slip 0.3%. SK Hynix, on the other hand, advanced 2.4%.
Meanwhile, Australian markets moved backward. Shares of major miner Rio Tinto dipped 0.59% after the firm announced its chief executive will be stepping down “by mutual agreement.”
That came following a board-led review over the legal destruction of historically-significant Aboriginal rockshelters.
Other major miners saw larger downward moves, with Fortescue Metals Group down about 3.1% while BHP fell 1.2%.
The Australian dollar was at $0.729 after touching an earlier low of $0.7249.
In other markets
The CSI 300 advanced 45.3 points, or 1%, to 4,627.28.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index dropped two points, to 2.490.09.
In Korea, the Kospi inched up 0.21 points, or 0.9%, to 2,396.69.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index slipped 15.8 points, or 0.1%, to 12,675.95.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dumped 63.75 points, or 0.5%, to 11,748.03.
In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 49.09 points, or 0.8%, to 5,959.42.