Overnight

The  Nikkei was down for the week trading flat Friday at 16,481.29 as the benchmark is off for the week 2.6% while investors remain reluctant going into the weekend. Though down for the week, the  dollar gained against the yen, trading at 100.22 yen after climbing 0.4%.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported: The Bank of Japan will likely take bold action next month, an adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, rejecting speculation that the central bank may use a coming policy review to justify a paring back of its stimulus.
“However they conduct the assessment, there is already an answer: Monetary policy hasn’t been eased enough,” Etsuro Honda said of the review set for release at the central bank’s next policy meeting in September. Without further action, people would give up on the Abenomics drive to defeat deflation, he added.

The central bank’s planned “comprehensive assessment” of its policies has generated speculation over the direction of Mr. Abe’s 3½-year effort to end deflation. The review was announced at the bank’s previous board meeting in late July, where the BOJ took modest easing action.

In other markets, the Kospi was down 0.14 percent. In Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 added 0.16 percent, as the heavily-weighted financials sub-index reversed early losses to trade nearly flat. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was down 0.53 percent. Chinese mainland markets were also lower, with the Shanghai composite off 0.38 percent, while the Shenzhen composite dropped 0.13 percent. Oil prices once again captured center stage on news that OPEC and other major producers might be cutting a deal to deal with the oversupply that  seems to be overhanging the market suppressing prices. Oil was up overnight at $48.28 a barrel in the futures market after rising Thursday.