Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Friday follwoing weak close on Wall Street overnight coupled with a disappointing survey of Japanese business issued by the central Bank of Japan. Japanese shares closed down, as the yen continued to strengthen and the Bank of Japan's latest Tankan business sentiment survey showed conditions and the outlook among large manufacturers worsened in March. Hong Kong's shares fell the most in five weeks after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded its outlook for China and Hong Kong. However, Chinese shares bucked the downtrend, as stronger-than-expected business activity in both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors added to confidence that Chinese growth has stabilized.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,009.53 | 5.61 | 0.19 |
| Hang Seng | 20,498.92 | -277.78 | -1.34 |
| Jakarta Composite | 4,843.19 | -2.19 | -0.05 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,710.55 | -7.03 | -0.41 |
| Nikkei 225 | 16,164.16 | -594.51 | -3.55 |
| Straits Times | 2,818.49 | -22.41 | -0.79 |
| KOSPI Composite | 1,973.57 | -22.28 | -1.12 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 8,657.55 | -87.28 | -1.00 |