Stocks on the major indexes in the Asia-Pacific region traded mostly below the flatline on Friday after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) unveiled that it will keep its short-term policy interest rate unchanged at -0.1 percent.
The investors also focused on the news from the Covid-19 vaccine front, as Pfizer revealed that it applied for the approval in Japan, after having obtained authorization from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
Europe's major stock market indexes moved to positive territory on Friday after having started the week's final session in the red.
The investors shrugged off some of the worries prompted by the uncertainty on the Brexit front amid optimistic news on the UK's retail sales figure for November and the German producer prices update for the same month.
Japan's Nikkei 225 closed the trading session down by 0.16 percent, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropping 0.91 percent. At the same time, South Korea's Kospi Composite advanced by 0.12 percent. Meanwhile, in mainland China, the Shanghai Composite slid 0.29 percent, while the Shenzhen Composite dipped 0.30 percent at the same time. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.2 percent at the closing bell. The dollar strengthened 0.21 percent against the yen, going for ¥103.3650.