Nikkei 225 closes lower by 0.72% at 30,017.92

The equities rally takes more of a breather towards the end of the week

Nikkei 19-02
Japanese stocks see the momentum in getting above 30,000 ease a little as risk sentiment in general looks to be more weary ahead of the weekend. That said, the Nikkei still posted 1.7% gains on the week so that’s more indicative of the bigger picture.
Chinese equities are still looking rather mixed and playing catchup after the long break, with the Hang Seng down 0.2% but the Shanghai Composite is up 0.5%. However, both are trading at the highs right now as we look towards the latter stages of the session.

Elsewhere, US futures are down but off earlier lows at least with S&P 500 futuress seen down ~0.15% as we look towards European morning trade today.

That is keeping the risk mood more tepid in general with the market still weighing up the moves in the bond market earlier in the week, among other things.