Asian shares slip as protests continue

Hong Kong - Asian markets slipped on Friday with Hong Kong tumbling more than 1% as investors returned from a two-day break to find major parts of the financial hub still shut down by pro-democracy protestors.

The dollar edged up against the yen after sinking on Thursday from a six-year high above ¥110 while the euro enjoyed some relief after the European Central Bank refrained from unveiling any new measures to combat deflation.

Hong Kong, which was closed for two days of public holidays, fell 1.10% in opening exchanges, while Tokyo was down 0.19% at the break and Sydney was flat.

Shanghai, Mumbai and Seoul were closed for holidays.

As the demonstrations in Hong Kong moved into a sixth day its chief executive refused demands to resign and held out the hope of compromise by saying he will talk to protest leaders.

The campaign for full universal suffrage has led to the closure of some of the city's busiest thoroughfares and comes during the Chinese Golden Week holiday when cashed-up mainlanders usually visit its numerous shopping outlets.

The Hang Seng Index, which lost more than 3% over on Monday and Tuesday, was closed for the next two days for holidays. Dealers were playing catch-up on Friday after a broad global sell-off in that time.

Among those hardest hit were HSBC, which lost 1.9%, while Standard Chartered bank slipped 2.8%. However, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said a number of bank branches in the city had reopened after being shuttered at the start of the week.

Wall Street's three main indices were soft as investors sat back ahead of the release of a key US jobs report later in the day, which could provide a clearer handle of the Federal Reserve's plans for interest rates.

Japan's Nikkei pared initial losses as the yen weakened slightly against the dollar.

The greenback, which broke ¥110 on Wednesday for the first time in more than six years, fetched ¥108.80 in early Friday trade, against ¥108.42 in New York.

An ECB decision to stand firm on its monetary policy lifted the euro, which earlier in the week had fallen below $1.26 for the first time since September 2012.

The bank held rates at record lows and said it would start buying covered bond and asset-backed securities in a bid to pump money into the eurozone economy and fan inflation.

In early Tokyo trade the euro bought $1.2655 and ¥137.74 against $1.2667 and ¥137.34.

On Wall Street the Dow and S&P 500 were and the Nasdaq added 0.18%.

Oil prices were up. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rose 19 cents to $91.20 while Brent crude for November gained 21c to $93.63.

Gold was at $1 212.58 an ounce against $1 213.50 late on Thursday.