Overnight

One shining light overnight in Asia was the Nikkei 225. It gained 0.5% in early trading as the yen softened and rising bond yields helped lift the index near a six-month high. Financials were one of the benefactors of the session with the Nikkei trading at 17,459.02. It was the second consecutive week of gains.

In the U.S. the 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level in almost five months.The dollar hit 105 yen and it helped investors who now expect higher U.S. interest rates later this year. It was a three-month for the dollar against the yen. The WSJ reported Japan released a batch of economic data at the start of Asian trading Friday. The core consumer price index slipped 0.5% from a year earlier in September, according to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

In other markets the Kospi was off 0.2%, the Australian ASX 200 down 0.4%. The Hang Seng Index was down 0.1% as traders continue to process Thursday’s data showing China’s industrial profit growth slowed sharply in September to 7.7% from a year earlier, according to the Journal. And oil was mostly flat despite reports that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries told their Russian counterparts that the group would be willing to cut production by as much as 4% from peak output. The comments were made ahead of a meeting between Russia and OPEC delegates this weekend. Crude futures wavered between positive and negative with U.S. crude up 0.04 percent, after settling up 1.1 percent at $49.72 a barrel in the U.S., while Brent futures were up 0.08 percent in Asia, after settling at $50.47 in the previous session.

In China markets also slid after opening positive, the Shanghai composite was down 0.06 percent, while Shenzhen composite fell 0.416 percent. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was trading at 98.835. Reuters noted that gold prices held steady on Friday amid a flat dollar and subdued Asian stocks, with the metal staying on track for its second straight weekly gain. Spot gold was little changed at $1,268.31 per ounce at 0111 GMT. The safe-haven asset is up about 0.2 percent so far this week.