Asian shares mixed at Friday's close

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Stock markets in Asia closed Friday with mixed figures amid signs that the omicron variant would not be as deadly as previous variants and not be detrimental to global economic growth.

A study conducted in the UK showed the risk of hospital treatment for people infected with the omicron variant is 50-70% less than other variants.

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca also announced it is working with Oxford University to produce a vaccine against the omicron variant.

Transactions in many countries' stock exchanges in Asia were carried out for half a day.

The indices that started the day positive turned negative near the closing.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, rose 2.62 points, or 0.07%, to close at around 3,766 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange was down 15.78 points, or 0.05%, to 28,782.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, gained 30.12 points, or 0.13%, to 23,223.

China's Shanghai stock exchange was down 25.29 points, or 0.69%, to 3,618 points, while the Indian Sensex benchmark was down 102.10 points, or 0.18%, to close at 57,213 points.