Asia: Stocks end week on a mixed note, as yen rises

Asian stocks ended the final session of the week on a mixed note, with Chinese and Japanese stocks pulling back from the strong gains of the previous session.

Hong Kong stocks closed higher on Friday, with the Hang Seng Index rising 0.84% as energy shares climbed after benchmark crude-oil futures settled at their highest levels in 2015.

Oil and gas producer Cnooc rose 1.7%, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp gained 0.9% and China Gas Holdings climbed 0.6%.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.47%, pulling back from its seven-year high as a number of financial stocks declined.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China declined 2.74%, while Haitong Securities dropped 3.8% and Ping An Insurance Group shed 3.6%.

The yuan reached its strongest level in three months as China’s central bank set the daily reference rate at its strongest level against the US dollar since mid-January, with the Chinese currency allowed to trade 2% above or below the level.

In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average slid 0.83% after moving above 20,000 for the first time in over a decade in the previous session.

With the Golden Week period set to begin next week and with the earnings season getting underway, investors threaded carefully on Friday with slightly disappointing data doing little to improve sentiment.

On Thursday, the headline “flash” manufacturing index fell from 50.4 in March to 49.7 in April, its lowest level in a year.

“The gap between new orders and inventories continued to fall, which suggests that Japan could still have further weakening,” Barclays analysts said in a note.

Sharp Corp and Japan Tobacco reversed strong gains from the previous session and fell 1.5% and 1.1% respectively, while Sony advanced 3.4%.

Automotive giants endured a mixed day, with Honda climbing 1.8% after unveiling its HondaJet aircraft on Thursday, while Toyota and Nissan fell 0.8% and 1.1% respectively.

The yen rose slightly against the dollar, gaining 0.06% against the greenback.

Australian stocks advanced on Friday, with the S&P/ASX 200 ending the final session of the week 1.51% higher, driven by mining stocks.

Further recovery in the iron-ore spot price boosted mining and metal firms, with BC Iron rising 5%, while Mount Gibson jumped 7.9% and Fortescue Metals climbed 5.7%.