LONDON (CNNfn) - Japan's Nikkei fell to a 17-month low Friday amid a mood of caution following the previous session's big tech sell-off, while shares in Hong Kong rose.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average of 225 stocks dropped 147.08 points, or more than 0.9 percent, to close at 15,667.36, its lowest since March 24 last year. The index finished down 1 percent for the week. Technology stocks, such as Toshiba Corp, Sony Corp and NEC Corp., led the decline.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 151.42 points, or 0.9 percent, to 17,425.70, led by conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa and interest-sensitive banking and property shares. The index rose 2 percent for the week.
Singapore's Straits Times added 7.7 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,052.73, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose just 2.1 points at 3,277.5. The resources sector was the focus of much activity, as iron ore company North recommended shareholders accept a counterbid of A$3.5 billion ($2 billion) from Rio Tinto in the absence of a higher offer. North jumped 5.5 percent.
In the U.S., the Nasdaq composite index rose 101.40 points, or 2.8 percent, to 3,759.86 Thursday after falling as low as 3,521.14, or 137.32 points in the morning. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 19.05 to 10,706.58, its fourth gain in four sessions.
In the currency market, the yen traded at ¥108.42 against the dollar, little changed from ¥108.35 in late trade in New York on Thursday.
In Tokyo, technology stocks suffered as investors shied away, despite gains on the Nasdaq. The country's No.1 personal computer maker Fujitsu Ltd fell 2.7 percent, Toshiba Corp dropped almost 5 percent, NEC Corp shed 4.6 percent and Sony Corp, the world's second-biggest consumer electronics company, slipped 1.3 percent.
Mobile phone component maker Kyocera Corp fell 4.5 percent on rumors that Motorola Inc (MOT: Research, Estimates) had told analysts its handset profitability would not be as strong as expected. But Motorola said on Thursday it had not changed its forecast.
Internet investor Softbank Corp continued its decent, falling 5.8 percent, while Oracle Japan, a unit of U.S. database software firm Oracle (ORCL: Research, Estimates), slipped 5.8 percent.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries jumped 6.9 percent. Japan's third-largest tire manufacturer raised its profit forecast to a record ¥12 billion yen ($110 million) for the year ending December, up 47 percent from a year earlier. Auto Honda Motor Corp rose 3.8 percent, leading a gain in auto stocks.
Banking and property stocks, sensitive to interest rates, rose in Hong Kong on optimism U.S. employment data due to be released later Friday will provide evidence the U.S. economy is slowing, indicating the Federal Reserve may not need to raise interest rates. British-based bank HSBC Holdings rose 1.4 percent, Bank of East Asia gained 1.4 percent, and Hang Seng Bank jumped 3.4 percent.
Property stocks also rose, led by property and telecom conglomerate Cheung Kong (Holdings), which rose 1.6 percent while Sun Hung Kai Properties climbed 4.4 percent.
Hutchison Whampoa, which is bidding for a German third-generation mobile phone license, plans to bid for licenses in Italy, according to some Italian newspaper reports. The company's shares rose 1.3 percent.
Among the region's smaller markets, Manila's PHS Composite rose 1 percent, the SET composite index in Bangkok gained 1.9 percent, Jakarta's JSX rose 0.4 percent, Malaysia's KLSE added 0.9 percent and Taiwan's Weighted index rose 1 percent.
South Korea's Kospi index slipped 1.7 percent. 
--from staff and wire reports
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