Watched Asian markets navigate some pretty choppy trading on Friday, with most indexes still managing to edge into the green despite the mixed vibes around AI. The yen and Treasuries both rallied while gold stayed hovering just below the $5,200 mark. Oil ticked up a bit after US-Iran talks wrapped without a deal, though there's apparently another round coming next week in Vienna.

Regionally, Shanghai was all over the place but closed up 0.39 percent at 4,162.88 as traders prepped for the Two Sessions meeting dropping next week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 0.95 percent to 26,630.54, though some individual names like Baidu couldn't catch a bid despite earnings. HSBC looked solid with a 1.6 percent pop. Tokyo managed another record close despite the choppiness, with the Nikkei up 0.16 percent to 58,850.27 on the back of softer inflation data and better industrial output numbers. Retail sales also rebounded nicely. Sony was the standout performer, surging 7.2 percent on share buyback news.

Seoul wasn't as lucky - the Kospi dropped 1 percent to 6,244.13 after hitting record highs earlier, with tech stocks leading the selloff as investors stayed skeptical about the AI narrative even after Nvidia's solid results. Down under, Australian stocks inched higher on mining strength, with the ASX 200 up 0.25 percent to 9,198.60. New Zealand's NZX-50 also squeezed out a 0.38 percent gain to 13,722.97.

Meanwhile, US markets ended choppy overnight as the AI bubble concerns kept weighing on sentiment despite Nvidia posting strong numbers. Nasdaq took a 1.2 percent hit, the S&P 500 dropped 0.5 percent, though the Dow managed to stay slightly positive. Job claims ticked up a bit, adding to the cautious tone. Overall, feels like everyone's still trying to figure out whether this AI rally has real legs or if we're due for some profit-taking.