Earnings Drag on Tokyo, Seoul

HONG KONG—Japanese and South Korean shares lost ground Friday as investors digested a raft of earnings reports.

But Indian shares for a fourth day, and Chinese stocks recovered from a weak open, lifted by the property sector.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.5% to 8831.93, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index shed 0.4% to 4251.20 and South Korea's Kospi gave up 0.6% to 1972.34.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index climbed 1% to 17604.96, its highest close since Oct. 31. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.8% to 2330.40, its best finish since Dec. 7, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up 0.1% to 20756.98, the highest close since Aug. 5.

Benchmarks in Hong Kong, Seoul and Mumbai posted their fifth consecutive weekly gains, while the Australian market snapped its string of four weekly gains.

"We are seeing some short-term consolidation from recent strength," said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong. "Whether the market can extend the move higher is unclear. Markets have traded up without fundamental support; there is some momentum because sentiment is relatively firm."

Softbank fell 3.6% in Tokyo after the company reported a halving of its quarterly profit, due to the end of its status as the Apple iPhone's monopoly seller in Japan. Rival KDDI gave up 1.4%.

Yamaha slumped 6.9% after reporting weak earnings.

Sony, which on Thursday posted a $2.1 billion loss for the last quarter, rallied 8.1%, wiping out the week's losses. Sharp, which plunged on weak quarterly results earlier in the week, added 2.8%. Canon gained 2% after announcing a share buyback.

Sumitomo Metal Industries, which late Thursday forecast a fiscal-year loss, lost 2.2%. Fellow steel producer JFE Holdings gave up 1.9% and Nippon Steel shed 1.1%.

In Hong Kong, Hutchison Whampoa climbed 3.3% after announcing that its cellular-telecom-services unit Hutchison 3G Austria will buy Orange Austria.

Chinese property shares advanced, with Gemdale up 1.5% and Poly Real Estate Group gaining 1.1% in Shanghai.

In Seoul, shipbuilders declined after disappointing earnings reports from Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, which fell 7.7% and 3%, respectively.

Gold miners rose in Australia after Comex gold futures hit an 11-week high in New York trading. Newcrest Mining and Perseus Mining each gained 1%.

Zijin Mining Group rose 1.6% in Hong Kong and 0.9% in Shanghai after the company estimated its net profit for 2011 would show a 20% increase.

In Mumbai, HDFC Bank gained 1.7% while mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp. rose 1.4%.