06:48 AM EDT, 09/22/2023 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets finished unevenly Friday, with exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai gaining on bargain hunting, but mixed results in Tokyo and other regional trading floors.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower on overnight Wall Street cues and could not recover, finishing off 0.5% as traders faded from tech shares and weighed US interest rates.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 168.52 to 32,402.41, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 160 to 60.

Leading the upside was camera-house Nikon, up 2.5%, while shipping line Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha fell 3.4%.

In economic news, Japan's headline consumer price index posted up 3.2% on year in August, reported the Statistics Bureau.

Japan's flash composite output index, a combination of the manufacturing and service sectors, struck 51.8 in September, down from 52.6 in August, but still above the 50-marker that separates growth from contraction, reported S&P Global.

The nation's flash services business activity Index posted at 53.3 in September, down from 54.3 in August, and the flash manufacturing output index posted at 48.6, down from 48.9, said S&P Global..

In other news, the Bank of Japan announced no changes in monetary policy, and will continue to buy 10-year Japanese government bonds without limit, announced the central bank.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower but rose to the close, finishing up 2.3% as traders became bargain-hunters after the overall market struck 10-month lows.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 402.04 to 18,057.45, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 76 to four. The Hang Seng TECH Index rose 3.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index gained 2.2%.

Leading the upside was Country Garden Services, up 6.7%, while Sinopharm fell 1.1%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.6% to 3,132.43.

On the other regional exchanges, the South Korean KOSPI fell 0.3%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.2%; the Australian ASX 200 was steady; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.1%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.6%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was off 0.4%.

In other news, the flash Australia composite output index struck 50.2 in September, up from 48.0 in August, reported S&P Global.

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