LONDON (CNNfn) - Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, with bank and property stocks leading gains in Singapore and Hong Kong as investors bet U.S. interest rates will not rise again this year. In Tokyo, big falls for retailers pulled the main index down in late trading.
Japan's Nikkei average of 225 stocks fell 121.48 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 16,739.78, reversing an earlier advance, as weakness in the retail sector outweighed gains for semiconductor stocks. The market closed up 2.8 percent from a week earlier.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 236.1 points, or 1.4 percent, to end the session at 17,333.61, led by HSBC Holdings, the territory's biggest bank, and property conglomerate Cheung Kong (Holdings). For the week, the index finished with a loss of half a percent.
 The Straits Times index in Singapore rose 0.8 percent to 2,165.58, as Southeast Asia's biggest bank DBS Group rose 1.9 percent and OCBC Bank climbed 3.4 percent.
South Korea's Kospi index rose 0.5 percent, to 692.19. Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 1.3 percent after heavy losses in previous sessions.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1 percent to 3,331.7, with gold miner Normandy Mining jumping 7.1 percent and AngloGold up 5 percent after the price of gold rose by $5 an ounce in London.
In the currency market, the yen firmed slightly to ¥106.37 against the U.S. dollar, from ¥106.63 in late New York trading Thursday.
Earnings worries
Japan's retail sector slumped amid concern earnings at convenience stores may fall short of analysts' estimates. Sector leader Seven-Eleven Japan fell 7.6 percent, while Lawson dropped almost 8 percent.
Market watchers also cited selling by corporate groups that hold shares in related companies.
"There's been great amount of potential unwinding of cross-held shares," said Masaaki Higashida, deputy general manager at Nomura Securities' investment department. "The selling isn't due to a change in expectations."
Unwinding of mutual shareholdings among group companies typically peaks around half-year book closing in September and at the end of the business year in March, as they try to "window-dress" their books.
Some semiconductor-related shares rose after a 3.1 percent jump in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index in the U.S. Thursday. NEC rose 3.6 percent, Toshiba added 1.1 percent and Rohm climbed 1.8 percent.
"Chipmakers are doing well, but the real question here is whether the current brisk pace of growth can be sustained through next year and further," said Yoshinobu Muraoka, fund manager at DLIBJ Asset Management.
Furukawa Electric, a leader in fiber-optic technology, rose 4.7 percent. and Japan's biggest computer maker Fujitsu rose 2.3 percent.
Among Friday's losers, Toyoda Gosei fell 9.7 percent after the Tokyo District Court ordered the resin and rubber parts maker to pay ¥100 million (about $1 million) in damages to Nichia Chemical Industries for patent infringement.
Bridgestone fell 4.1 percent to ¥1,323, a five-year low. A crisis over the recall of Firestone tires on Ford Motor Co (F: Research, Estimates) vehicles deepened on Thursday as a U.S. regulator probed reports of more traffic deaths linked to faulty tires and Venezuela mulled criminal charges against Ford and Bridgestone, parent of Firestone.
Interest-rate optimism
 In Hong Kong, banking and property stocks, both sensitive to interest-rates, rose as investors bet U.S. rates have peaked for the year.
HSBC Holdings jumped 2.2 percent and Hang Seng Bank climbed more than 2.7 percent. Conglomerate Cheung Kong rose almost 2 percent and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's second-largest property developer, jumped 4 percent.
Conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, the most actively traded stock, rose 2.3 percent.
"Hutchison is a conglomerate, and the expected healthy economic outlook in the coming quarter helped," said Peter Lai, director at OCBS Securities.
Elsewhere, Taiwan's Weighted index fell 2.6 percent, and Manila's PHS Composite lost 0.5 percent. Jakarta's JSX rose 0.9 percent and Thailand's composite SET index added 1 percent, 
--from staff and wire reports
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