singapore shares in asiapacific were mixed on friday as investors monitored moves in the commodities space after prices fell sharply on thursday in japan the nikkei 225 closed 019 lower at 2896408 while the topix index slipped 087 to end the trading day at 194656 south koreas kospi rose about 01 on the day to 326793 mainland chinese stocks closed mixed with the shanghai composite marginally lower at 352510 while the shenzhen component advanced 0769 to 1458367 hong kongs hang seng index rose about 06 as of its final hour of trading the spasx 200 in australia advanced 013 to close at 736890 over in southeast asia the straits times index in singapore was fractionally higher as of about 329 pm local time singapores government announced friday that it will further ease covidrelated restrictions next week though at a slower pace than previously announced as local infections have not seen a significant decline investors watched for market moves in the commodities sector after a recent tumble in prices shares of major australian miners fell on friday rio tinto declined 061 and bhp dropped 245 while fortescue metals group shed 084 oil prices were lower in the afternoon of asia trading hours adding to losses seen thursday international benchmark brent crude futures slipped 041 to 7278 per barrel us crude futures declined 024 to 7087 per barrel meanwhile spot gold rose 084 to 178816 per ounce after seeing sharp declines earlier this week from above 1840 an ounce the bank of japan on friday announced its decision to hold steady on monetary policy as well as an extension of the duration of its pandemic relief program for the time being the bank will closely monitor the impact of covid19 and will not hesitate to take additional easing measures if necessary and also it expects short and longterm policy interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels the japanese central bank said in its monetary policy statement following that announcement the japanese yen traded at 11001 per dollar stronger than levels above 1105 against the greenback seen yesterday the us dollar index which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers was at 92009 following a recent climb from below 91 the australian dollar was at 07534 as it struggled to recover after declining from above 0768 earlier this week