MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent, heading for a weekly drop of 1.5 percent.
Japan's Nikkei rose on Friday in volatile trade, reversing earlier weakness as the dollar firmed against the yen, lifting risk appetite, but a sharp drop in Fast Retailing shares limited gains on the benchmark.
The Nikkei share average gained 0.5 percent to 15,821.52, crawling back from its intraday low of15,471.80. For the week, it dropped 2.1 percent.
Hong Kong stocks ended slightly higher on Friday as investors searched for cues on direction ahead of China's March economic data.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.5 percent, to 20,370.40, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.7percent, to 8,704.81 points.
For the week, the Hang Seng shed 0.6 percent while the HSCE fell 1.6 percent.
China stocks fell nearly 1 percent on Friday morning ahead of a slew of economic data, with some investors locking in profit from a month-long rebound that reflects expectations for a strong first quarter.
The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.8 percent, to 3,183.82 points by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9 percent, to 2,981.42 points.
Reference: Reuters
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