OVERNIGHT

Falling oil prices and a down day on Wall Sreet reportedly rolled back what was a short lived rally in Asian stocks as investors changed their minds again, this time choosing to avoid riskier assets Friday morning.

The Nikkei was off 2.3% early but remains on track for a positive week just nothing near the more 11% the index shed a week ago. Those pesky on again off again oil price changed directions heading lower after data showed record U.S. crude supplies. Word about a Russian-Saudi cut jade the rounds, but some question it's validity.

The WSJ reported: Most shares in Asia slipped Friday, capping a week that saw spurts of bargain buying and sharp rebounds in beaten down sectors such as banks.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average have gained 4% and 6%, respectively, since the beginning of the week, although on Friday they had slipped 0.7% and 1.9%.

Both the Shanghai Composite Index and Hang Seng Index were off fractionally on Friday. South Korea’s Kospi was roughly flat. Those markets have also recovered this week after steep selling earlier in the month, when worries about the health of banks in Europe and declines in Japanese equities sparked turmoil in markets around the world.

In currency markets the Korean, already a beaten down currency, hit a new low ad investors apparently believe the government will cut interest rates further in the next few months.The dollar- yen hit another low settling around 112, down from 115 just a week or so ago and Japanese trade many are concerned will weaken further.