• Asian stocks were mixed on Friday, while the dollar surrendered some of the overnight gains it made on strong economic data amid ongoing political turbulence around U.S. President Donald Trump.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.1 percent, on track for a weekly loss of 0.5 percent.
• Japan's Nikkei share average edged up on Friday as bargain hunters snapped up financial stocks heavily sold the previous day, but gains were limited as political uncertainty in the United States kept investors cautious.
The Nikkei ended 0.2 percent higher at 19,590.76, crawling back from negative territory in early trade.
• China's main stock indexes were little changed on Friday but ended the week higher, with Shanghai shares snapping a five-week losing streak, as soothing regulatory comments and the central bank's injection offset worries over tighter regulations and economic growth.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.2 percent, to 3,403.85 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended flat at 3,090.63 points.
• Hong Kong stocks edged up on Friday, ending the week roughly flat, as Chinese money continued to flow into the city's share market, while index heavyweight Tencent closed at an all-time high.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.2 percent, to 25,174.87, while the China Enterprises Index was unchanged at 10,267.39 points.
• Billionaire investor George Soros has upped what so far has been a losing bet on the U.S. stock market, according to recent filings.
As of the end of the quarter, Soros held 3.3 million shares of the iShares Russell 2000 exchange-traded fund puts, an increase of 36 percent from the previous quarter and carrying a notional value of $459.6 million.
He increased his holdings of SPDR S&P 500 puts by 162 percent from the fourth quarter to 1.3 million shares, carrying a notional value of $304.7 million.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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