China's Shanghai Composite Index [CN;SHI  2962.667    -97.593  (-3.19%)   ] opened up but pulled back, on Wall Street’s tepid performance overnight. However, the index was supported at the start of trade by the launch of 15 mutual funds which offset the outlook for more share supplies.

The index opened at 3,063.309 points, after rising 2 percent to a more than 1-month closing high on Thursday.
The official China Securities Journal reported that 15 mutual funds were launched on Sept. 17, with one of them raising 2 billion yuan ($293 million) on the first day.
However, Metallurgical Corp of China (MCC) said it would list its shares in Shanghai on Monday after raising up to $5.3 billion in the world's second-largest initial public offering (IPO) this year.
China's securities regulator also approved on Thursday the first seven firms to list on the new Nasdaq-style second board, state media reported.
Analysts said there were clear signs of stable government policy ahead of the National Day Holiday, therefore more share supply may not impact the index immediately. The index could test its 60-day moving average at 3,086 points shortly.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 [JP;N225  10370.54    -73.2598  (-0.7%)   ] ended with losses, as recent gainers such as Advantest lost steam after U.S. stocks took a breather following a rally, with trade also cautious ahead of a five-day holiday in Japan.
Aiful was untraded due to a glut of sell orders after the Japanese consumer finance firm said it may ask its lenders to change the repayment schedule on loans as part of a restructuring.

Japanese markets will be closed for a five-day holiday from Sept. 19-23.
The South Korean Kospi [KR;KSPI  1699.71    4.24  (+0.25%)   ] posted their biggest weekly gain in 1-½   months on Friday, powered by heavy foreign purchases of SK Energy and shipbuilders including Daewoo Shipbuilding .
The index closed up 0.25 percent to 1,699.71 points, the highest close since late June 2008, although off its session high of 1,713.22.
On the week, it gained 2.9 percent, the biggest weekly rise since the last week of July.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 [AU;XJO  4693.2    -21.70  (-0.46%)   ] finished down 0.7 percent, snapping three days of rises as investors took profits and paused to digest the latest round of data pointing to global economic recovery.
The index was down 34.1 points at 4,680.8 at 0151 GMT. It had risen on Thursday to its highest level since Oct 2, after adding 4.0 percent in three days.

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