06:40 AM EDT, 10/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were choppy on Friday, with China-exposed exchanges gaining after a report on improved mainland property sales, while domestic politics tempered the outlook in Japan.

Other regional exchanges were also uneven.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 finished off 0.6% as traders eyed pending weekend national elections, and a stronger yen that undercut export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 229.37 to 37,913.72, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 176 to 48.

Imaging house Konica Minolta led the upside, up 7.3%, while Sumitomo Pharma declined 6.3%.

In economic news, the Tokyo headline consumer price index (CPI) and the widely quoted core CPI that excludes fresh foods both rose by 1.8% year over year in October, reported Statistics Japan, below the Bank of Japan's 2% annual target on the national CPI.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index finished up 0.5% after a mainland China report pointed to improved residential property markets.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 100.53 to 20,590.15 as gaining issues outnumbered losers 50 to 28. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 1.2% on the day while the Mainland Properties Index rose 0.5%.

Leading the upside was Xinyi Solar, gaining 17% on the outlook for reduced US tariffs on certain solar panels, while aluminum producer China Hongqiao fell 4.6%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% to 3,299.70.

In economic news, residential pre-sales for 30 key cities in China this week rose by 22% from the previous seven-day period, according to financial data provider Wind, reported the South China Morning Post.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.1%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.7%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.3%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.3%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.6%.