Asia-Pacific markets rebound

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rebounded Friday, after Thursday's sell-off saw some indexes in the region hit their lowest level in months, reports CNBC.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was the notable outlier, extending losses for an eighth straight day to 37,667.41, down 0.53 per cent. The Topix lost 0.38 per cent to close at 2,699.54, its lowest since April 26.

Chipmaker Renesas Electronics fell for a second straight day, plunging over 5 per cent on Friday to lead losses in the index. This brought its share price to its lowest level since April.

Renesas saw a 29 per cent drop in net profit for the first half of the year, with Nikkei reporting that President Hidetoshi Shibata admitted that the firm "misjudged demand for industrial equipment." Unlike most Japanese companies, Renesas' financial year starts on January 1.

In Asia, traders also assessed July inflation data out of Japan's capital city of Tokyo, which is widely considered a leading indicator of nationwide trends.

Tokyo's headline inflation slowed slightly to 2.2 per cent in July from 2.3 per cent in May, while its core inflation rate -- which strips out prices of fresh food -- remained unchanged at 2.2 per cent, in line with expectations.

The so called "core-core" inflation rate, which strips out prices of fresh food and energy and is watched by the Bank of Japan, fell to 1.5 per cent from 1.8 per cent.

The yen will also be closely watched, after it strengthened sharply against the dollar in the past week. The currency is currently trading at 153.9 against the greenback.

The Taiwan Weighted Index dropped 3.29 per cent to end at 22,119.21 as markets resumed trading after being closed for two days due to a typhoon.

Heavyweights Hon Hai Precision Industry -- known as Foxconn internationally -- and chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company lost 4.71 per cent and 5.62 per cent, respectively.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.34 per cent as of its final hour of trade, while mainland China's CSI 300 closed 0.29 per cent higher at 3,409.29.

South Korea's Kospi rose 0.78 per cent to end at 2,731.9, rebounding off a six-week low, while the small-cap Kosdaq was marginally up at 797.56.