HONG KONG: Asian stock markets were mixed and the dollar eased slightly in nervous trade on Friday as dealers looked ahead to a highly anticipated speech by US Fed chief Ben Bernanke later in the day.
At the end of a week that has seen narrow gains for most indexes, investors were cautious before Bernanke's speech to see if he will set out a plan to kickstart the stumbling US economy.
Tokyo rose 0.29 percent, or 25.42 points, to 8,797.78 and Seoul added 0.81 percent, or 14.37 points, to 1,778.95.
Sydney dipped 0.30 percent, or 12.8 points, to 4,200.0, while Shanghai shed 0.44 percent and Hong Kong was flat.
"This may be the calm before the storm," Hisatsune Kobayashi, general manager of global investment strategy at SMBC Nikko Securities in Japan, told Dow Jones Newswires.
channelnewsasia
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