On the first trading session of 2015, Asian equities were quiet on the back of a lack of foreign cues and economic data releases. Thin volume is also likely as China, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines remain shuttered for the holiday season.
A slight rebound in oil prices did little to boost sentiment in Asia. U.S. crude futures gained 80 cents to rise over $54 a barrel early Friday, supported by last week's larger-than-expected fall in U.S. crude stocks but the rise was pressured by China's weak factory activity in December .
Benchmark Brent crude previously settled down 57 cents at $57.33 a barrel.
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HSI gains 0.8%
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index outperformed the region as the property and financial sectors put up robust performances on Friday. The index closed up 1.07 percent.
China Construction Bank (Shanghai Stock Exchange: 1939-SZ) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Shanghai Stock Exchange: 1398-SZ) rallied nearly 2 percent, respectively, while Bank of China (Shanghai Stock Exchange: 1988-SZ) also piled on 1.4 percent.
Chinese property developers surged; China Vanke (:Z2-CN) advanced more than 10 percent while China Overseas Land and Investments made gains of 8 percent.
Gaming stocks traded lower on reports that gambling revenue in Macau fell last year for the first time. Melco Crown (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 6883-HK), Galaxy Entertainment (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 27-HK) and Sands China (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 1928-HK) tumbled 3.7 to 1.6 percent.
China's markets were closed for a holiday and will reopen on Monday.
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ASX rises 0.5%
Australia's benchmark S&P ASX 200 index closed up on Friday, supported by the resources sector and as most financials erased early losses.
Commodity-related stocks turned positive in the afternoon session. Atlas Iron (ASX:AGO-AU) was the biggest gainer for the day, scaling up 40 percent, while the rest of the miners like Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG-AU) and BHP Billiton (London Stock Exchange: BLT-GB) climbed up 3.3 and 0.6 percent each. Energy producers Oil Search (ASX:OSH-AU) erased losses to close flat while Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL-AU) notched up 0.3 percent.
Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG-AU) and Westpac Banking (ASX:WBC-AU) reversed declines to inch up 0.4 and 0.3 percent each while National Australia Bank remained lackluster for the session, losing 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar lost 0.5 percent against the greenback to fetch $0.8139 late Friday. "[For 2015,] the Aussie will find itself coming under downward pressure," Michael Every, head of Financial Markets Research, Asia-Pacific at Rabobank, told CNBC Asia's " Squawk Box ."