Asian shares mostly down after soft US data

Asian markets mostly slipped Friday, following a negative lead from Wall Street after a disappointing set of corporate results and soft economic data. The dollar was subdued against the yen after seeing a sell-off in New York in response to the latest US figures, while its Australian counterpart also continued to struggle. Tokyo's Nikkei-225 index edged down 12.74 points to 15,734.46, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.23 percent, or 3.00 points, to 1,297.39. Major exporters lost ground, with Toyota falling 0.97 percent to 6,200 yen while Sony was down 1.33 percent at 1,780 yen. Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal eased 1.46 percent to 337 yen after a major fire engulfed its steel plant in central Japan on Friday. Hong Kong stocks ended 0.64 percent higher, reversing initial losses as investors moved in to pick up bargains. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 146.94 points to 23,133.35 on turnover of HK$74.89 billion ($9.66 billion). Chinese shares closed down 0.93 percent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 18.75 points to 2,004.95 on turnover of 57.0 billion yuan ($9.4 billion). The index fell 4.15 percent for the week. In Shanghai, Neway Valve (Suzhou) Co. -- the first stock to list in China for 14 months -- leaped 43.49 percent on its debut after authorities ended afreeze on initial public offerings (IPOs). The firm is among the first batch of five announcing last month that regulators had given the green light for share offers, following a suspension of approvals in November 2012. The Sydney index closed almost unchanged, edging down 3.2 points to 5,305.9, while Seoul fell 0.66 percent, or 12.84 points, to 1,944.48. The dollar was unable to rebound against the yen in Tokyo from its losses in New York on Thursday caused by the downbeat US results. In late afternoon trade the greenback bought 104.34 yen, compared with 104.37 yen late in New York and well down from the 104.60 yen level touched earlier Thursday in Asia. The euro was at 141.97 yen against 142.11 yen while it also fetched $1.3600, compared with $1.3615. The Australian dollar fetched 88.10 US cents, stuck at three-year lows after seeing a sell-off on Thursday following another set of disappointing jobs figures out of Canberra. It had fallen to as low as 87.77 cents at one point after the jobs data. On oil markets US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in February rose 37 cents to $94.33 a barrel, while European benchmark Brent crude for March was up nine cents at $105.84. The February contract expired on Thursday. Gold fetched $1,240.72 at 0820 GMT compared with $1,236.55 late Thursday. In other markets: -- Taipei fell 0.19 percent, or 16.11 points, to 8,596.0. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. rose 0.47 percent to Tw$107.5 but computer maker Acer slipped 0.78 percent to Tw$19.0. -- Wellington fell 0.56 percent, or 27.34 points, to 4,893.95. Air New Zealand was down 0.20 percent at NZ$1.69, while Telecom tumbled 2.9 percent to NZ$2.36. -- Manila was flat, edging up 4.85 points to 5,987.09. Alliance Global rose 3.33 percent to 26.40 pesos and Megaworld Corp. climbed 1.73 percent to 3.52 pesos, while BDO Unibank ended 0.21 percent up at 72.25 pesos.