Japan's Nikkei share average edged lower on Friday as weakness in exporters weighed on the index, but strong gains in index-heavy Fast Retailing on record quarterly profit limited the losses.
The Nikkei ended 0.2 per cent lower at 23,653.82, slightly below its 5-day moving average of 23,743.39. For the week, it dropped 0.3 per cent.
Fast Retailing Co jumped 6 per cent and contributed a hefty 104 positive points to the Nikkei after it posted a 28.6 per cent surge in its operating profit to 113.9 billion yen ($1 billion) for the first quarter.
Exporters took a hit as the yen stayed on the stronger side. The dollar was at 111.22 yen after plumbing a six-week low of 111.05 yen on Thursday. Olympus tumbled 3.8 per cent, Kyocera dropped 1.7 per cent and Nissan Motor declined 0.8 per cent. The broader Topix declined 0.6 per cent to 1,876.24.