Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares closed at their highest in more than two weeks on Friday, posting weekly gains that were largely buoyed by a strong showing in Asian insurer AIA Group and Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings.
The Hang Seng Index ended up 0.6 percent on the day and 1.3% on the week at 23 133 points, its highest closing level since January 2.
Tencent jumped 6.4% this week to a record close, while AIA climbed 3.1% in its biggest weekly gain in three months.
The China Enterprises Index of the leading offshore Chinese listings in Hong Kong slipped 0.2% on Friday and ended flat this week.
Investors eschewed the Chinese banking sector amid tightening concerns in the mainland, manifest this week with the resumption of initial public offering approvals after more than a year and fears of a possible trust product default.
China Oilfield Services soared 8% on Friday ahead of the Monday release of its biggest client CNOOC's 2014 strategy report.
Its H-shares will also see a bigger weightage on the MSCI Emerging Market index after market close on January 20 and on the FTSE AW Index after markets shut on January 23.
China Unicom, the country's second-largest mobile provider, sank 1.9% to a six-month low on Friday and was among the top five most shorted stocks for a second session as bigger rival China Mobile finally launched the iPhone on its networks on Friday after years of discussions with Apple.