Asian markets end mixed snapping earlier session’s sharp fall

Asian equity markets ended mixed on Friday after recovering from earlier session's steep falls as investors took some comfort from the Federal Reserve's commitment to ultra-soft monetary policy for now, but weak US and European data capped Friday's recovery. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei closed higher, recovering from Thursday's drop. China’s Shanghai Composite went home with red mark after extending yesterday’s decline, as new home prices rose in most cities for third month, adding pressure on leaders to intensify policy-tightening to prevent asset bubbles.