Japanese stocks looked set to close out a stellar quarter on a lackluster note Friday, with the market weighed by losses for Panasonic Corp. and the banks. Markets in Hong Kong, India, Australia and Singapore were closed Friday, with those in Europe and the U.S. also set to remain shut for the Good Friday holiday.
Nikkei 225 12,397.91 +61.95 +0.50%
Hang Seng 22,299.63 -165.19 -0.74%
S&P/ASX 200 4,966.5 -28.49 -0.57%
Shanghai Composite 2,236.62 +0.32 +0.01%
Panasonic took a tumble, with the firm's shares down 7.4% after the company's president said the tech conglomerate planned to cut loose unprofitable units as part of its restructuring.
China CItic Bank Corp. fell 2.5%, however, after it reported a small increase in 2012 profit to 31.03 billion yuan ($5 billion), which fell below analyst expectations for a 33.34 billion yuan profit.