The last trading day of the week was particularly bleak for South Korea's Kospi, which fell 2.1 percent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was also down 0.4 percent, while the broader Topix was up 0.3 percent.
The Hong Kong-based Hang Seng also rose 0.6 percent.
In China, Shenzhen and Shanghai followed the upward trend, rising 0.9 and 0.3 percent, respectively.
