Dealers said most property stocks were down on profit-taking following recent gains on cuts in bank mortgage rates, except for blue chips Cheung Kong and Sun Hung Kai, which helped the market finish in positive territory despite heavy losses in Tokyo.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 24.81 points at 15,475.69.
Overall gains were limited as Wall Street's advance for a third day running was negated by the Tokyo bourse's 330.22-point fall on Thursday.
"The market was relatively quiet today, with HSBC among the gainers, which helped pull the index out of negative territory," said Peter Lai, investment manager at DBS Securities.
Shanghai share prices closed 0.26 percent lower, extending losses in a sustained correction with automakers and metal stocks under pressure.
Dealers said that after Thursday's sharp downturn of more than 2.00 percent, investors were in no mood to take any risks and settled for some further profit-taking on the gains made prior to the Lunar New Year holiday last month.
Having run into strong resistance at 1,300 points on the Shanghai Composite Index, it seems unlikely the market can make much headway unless it gets a fresh boost in the shape of another government reform initiative.
The Shanghai A-share Index fell 3.48 points to 1,329.38, while the Shenzhen A-share Index was down 1.84 points or 0.57 percent at 318.89.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B-shares, lost 3.23 points or 0.25 percent at 1,267.41.
Sydney share prices closed 0.43 percent lower as investors sold off mining stocks amid growing uncertainty over the outlook for commodity prices.
Dealers said a statement by Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Ian Macfarlane reaffirming the central bank's tightening bias on monetary policy was largely as expected but the prospect for further US rate hikes hit US-linked companies.
The SP/ASX 200 index dropped 20.7 points to 4,799.9.
Singapore share prices closed 0.14 percent down on profit-taking in selected blue chips including DBS bank, which posted a dramatic slump in net profit for last year.
The Straits Times Index closed down 3.32 points to 2,431.34.
"After lunch, the STI fell mainly on DBS' drop, and it is still down now," a dealer at a local brokerage said.
Indian share prices fell 1.41 percent, closing below the 10,000 level as investors locked-in gains and chose not to build up fresh positions ahead of the Feb. 28 budget.
Dealers said selling pressure was seen in infrastructure and agro-commodity sectors like sugar and tea, which had run higher in previous weeks.
The benchmark 30-share SENSEX fell 143.19 points to 9,981.11.
"There was some concern with investors and funds not willing to build fresh positions at the weekend. We expect the markets to remain range-bound at this stage," said Rajesh Jain, director of brokerage Pranav Securities.
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