Australian shares lost 0.6 per cent on Friday to finish near three-week lows as the resource sector was hit by a rout in iron ore prices and the sentiment was hurt by Wall Street's decline.
The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 32.6 points to 5,598.7 at the close of trade, suffering its biggest one-day percentage loss in a month. The benchmark, which shed 0.4 percent on Thursday, lost 0.5 percent for the week, its second week of losses.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index added 0.5 per cent or 25.3 points to finish the session at 5,253.9.