Tensions in Europe flared overnight as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said that Spain will postpone a decision on a bailout until the terms of the rescue are clear. The prime minister of Slovakia also dampened sentiment when he said that the chance of a euro-zone breakup was 50%.
The euro was at $1.2515 Friday, compared to $1.2506 late Thursday in New York.
Investors were also getting ready for Mr. Bernanke's long-awaited speech at Jackson Hole later in the day, where many expect that he could provide signals over the chances of a new round of quantitative easing.
Pinning hopes on central bankers has been a dominant theme throughout August, which has proven to be a month of two halves. In the first two weeks of August most of the major regional indexes climbed, as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's pledge to save the euro boosted sentiment. But over the last two weeks, markets have edged back slightly, due to a lack of catalysts and low participation during the holiday season.
Although Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index has already given up its August gains, several markets look likely to post gains for the month -- Japan's Nikkei was up 2.3%, while Australia's S&P ASX 200 added 1%.
The Nikkei declined on Friday, falling 1.1%, as local sentiment was damaged following the release of worse-than-expected industrial output data for July, which dragged exporters. Honda Motor lost 2.0% and Nikon retreated 2.5%.
Troubled electronics company Sharp tumbled 10.6% in Tokyo after there was no new announcement between it and Hon Hai Precision Industry, the Taiwanese company with which it is negotiating a partnership. Hon Hai fell 1.1% in Taipei.
Australia's S&P ASX 200 was up 0.1% in choppy trade, with the resources sector remaining weak as another fall in iron ore prices pushed the metal to fresh multi-year lows.
Fortescue Metals Group fell 1.9%, while BHP Billiton was down 0.6%.
The Hang Seng Index was 0.3% lower with resource and telecom companies leading declines.
The territory's government introduced 10 measures to raise housing supply. Several local developers, which fell heavily on Thursday ahead of the announcement, actually rose, as analysts described the measures as mild. Henderson Land Development was up 1.6% and Cheung Kong (Holdings) was 1.0% higher.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China's largest lender by assets, was up 1.0% in Hong Kong, after announcing interim results that were mostly in-line with expectations.
The Shanghai Composite was down less than 0.1%, South Korea's Kospi was off 0.1% and India's Sensex was 0.5% lower.
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