LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Stocks in Asia reversed their losses to close the week mostly higher on Friday, with investors there waking up to fresh stimulus announcements from the European Central Bank overnight.
The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.51% at 16,938.87, though it was down 0.44% for the week. Japan's yen remained near the 113 mark against the dollar in late trading, and was last 0.56% weaker at JPY 113.82.

That left major exporters mostly mixed, with Nissan down 0.32% and Toyota off 0.23%, while Sony lifted 0.33%.

Over on the peninsula, Korea's Kospi ended up 0.11% at 1,971.41, and the Hang Seng Index finished 1.08% higher at 20,199.60.

The gains came after the ECB took the wraps off a surprise stimulus package, with cuts to the main interest rates and an expansion of the bond-buying programme.

Markets initially reacted negatively to the easing, with the euro pushing higher and local stocks down. Asian markets initially tracked that, before turning around later in the day.

"Despite a negative open to the Asian session, cash markets and US and European futures markets have bounced into positive territory in the latter half of the session," said IG market analyst Angus Nicholson.

"Debt markets were far more upbeat on the ECB announcement, and it appears that the more erratic equities market is now following the calmer lead of the bond market and moving higher," he added.

Chinese markets finished mixed, with the Shanghai Composite lifting 4.44% to 2,809.17, and the smaller Shenzhen Composite finishing down 0.2% at 1,685.23.

Before open, the People's Bank of China set renminbi's loose peg at CNY 6.4905 to USD, the strongest level so far this year, up from Thursday's 6.5217. The onshore yuan is permitted to trade 2% above or below the peg.

Down under, the S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.32% at 5,166.40. Australia's benchmark registered gains of 1.5% for the week.

Mining stocks in the sunburnt country were mixed as commodities came off their heady heights seen early in the week. Iron ore prices hit $57.40 on Friday, compared with a high of $63.30 per tonne earlier in the week.

Major miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were both down in Sydney, by 0.36% and 0.51% respectively. Shares in South32 we up 3.5% by comparison.

"The accelerated rally at the beginning of the week appears to have come from short-covering after the [National People's Congress in China] at the weekend," BNP Paribas noted, saying iron ore prices were a key catalyst for Australian market movements this week.

Commodities movements helped to strengthen the Aussie dollar against the greenback, which was last 0.57% ahead at AUD 1.3339 per US dollar.

Oil prices also reversed course from the declines seen in the US, with Brent crude last up 1.65% to $40.70 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate up 1.97% to $38.60. Australian energy shares were mixed, with Santos up 0.78% and Oil Search losing 1.91%.

There were reports on Thursday that an OPEC meeting where the cartel was looking to freeze output was looking unlikely to proceed without Iran, which sent oil lower during New York trading.

New Zealand shares hit a record high for the seventh consecutive day, though trading volumes were down after Thursday's surprise interest rate cut by the country's central bank. The S&P/NZX 50 was up 0.1% to 6,515.42.

It had gained 0.8% on Thursday after Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Graeme Wheeler cut the official cash rate 25 basis points to a record low 2.25%.

The Kiwi dollar tumbled after the news, helping exporters in the exposed agrarian economy. It was last ahead 0.33% against the greenback, however, to NZD 1.4948.

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