MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rallied 0.7% on Friday to put it on track for a 5.4% weekly advance, the biggest for eight months. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.52% and mainland Chinese blue chips added 0.12%. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1%. Japan's Nikkei, though, was a notable outlier, flipping early gains to be last down 0.43% as it struggles to find its feet following its retreat from a 33-year peak reached at the start of this month.