Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Friday with investors shrugging off some positive data in Japan and Australia.
In Japan, core machinery orders jumped 8.3%, well above the 3.1% gain seen month-on-month and posted a 0.9% drop year-on-year, better than the 4.2% fall seen. As well PPI figures showed a 3.9% decline, a tad below the 4.0% drop seen year-on-year.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.29% and the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.42%.
In Australia, the Westpac consumer sentiment index rose 2.0%, rebounding from a 3.0% fall in the previous month.
Also in Australia, home loans for June gained 1.2%, below a 2.4% gain expected month-on-month and invest housing finance for June rose 3.2%, below a 3.9% increase the previous month.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.15% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.57%. The yuan was higher against the dollar after the People's Bank of China strengthened the fixing for a second consecutive day at 6.6530, compared with a central parity of 6.6594 on Tuesday.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Telecoms, Technology and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.02%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.24%.