KUALA LUMPUR
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) rose 5.08 points, or 0.52 per cent at 1,261.62 at midday.

HONG KONG
Hong Kong share prices closed slightly lower on Friday, down 0.25 per cent, weighed down by the Shanghai market and the drop of PetroChina's A-shares below their IPO price, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed down 61.18 points at 24,197.78, off a low of 24,107.24 and a high of 24,400.87. Turnover was HK$79.89 billion (S$138 billion).

After leaping more than sixfold in a two-year bull run, the market has been gripped for six months by a downtrend triggered by high inflation, a threatened slowdown of the economy later this year, and heavy supplies of new equity.

The Shanghai Composite Index slid 3.97 per cent to end Friday at 3,094.668 points, near its intra-day low of 3,078.174. It lost 11.4 per cent this week, its biggest weekly drop since 1996, and is now 49 per cent below last October's record peak.

Panic spread on Friday as PetroChina broke its IPO price of 16.70 yuan (S$3.22). Since the oil giant is the most heavily weighted share in the index, the break was seen as negative for the whole market, implying institutions were so bearish that they were willing to take losses to exit the stock.

PetroChina closed 5.04 per cent lower at 16.02 yuan, after touching a low of 16.00 yuan, pressured by expectations that high global oil prices will cause losses at its refining operations.

TOKYO
Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.6 per cent on Friday, up for a fourth day, with exporters such as Canon advancing on a softer yen and receding pessimism about US business conditions.

Still, caution prevailed in thin trade, as investors moved to the sidelines ahead of earnings results from Citigroup later in the day and Japanese companies next week.

The benchmark Nikkei average ended up 78.15 points at 13,476.45. It gained 1.2 per cent for the week. The broader Topix index rose 0.8 per cent to 1,304.06.