Asian stock markets close Friday mixed

By Tuba Ongun

ANKARA (AA) – Major Asian stock markets closed mixed on Friday.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, fell 0.52% to 3,349 at 1102GMT.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange gained 1.40% to 28,856.

The Bank of Japan on Friday maintained its ultra-easy monetary policy as expected in newly appointed Governor Kazuo Ueda's first policy meeting.

The central bank altered its policy guidance to stress the importance of wage hike in achieving its inflation target of 2%.

Japan's housing starts fell 3.2% year-on-year in March following a 0.3% decline in February.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, rose 0.27% to finish at 19,894.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange surged 1.14% to close at 3,323.

The Singapore index dropped 0.35% to 3,270, while India's Sensex benchmark was up 0.76% to end the day at 61.112.

Business confidence for the Singapore's manufacturing sector improved to 2 in the first quarter of this year from a two-year low of -25 in the prior three-month period.