The mood was largely positive on Asia's leading stock exchanges in the initial Friday trading.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.1 percent at lunchtime. The composite indexes in Shanghai and Shenzhen also showed positive figures, up 0.6 and 1.2 percent, respectively.
In Japan, however, the outlook was gloomier. The key Nikkei 225 had lost 0.4 percent, while the broader Topix index had fallen back by 0.5 percent.
