BEIJING -- Asian stocks were mostly higher in trading muted by Good Friday observance.

Markets in Europe, the U.S. and many countries in Asia were closed for the holiday. Oil trading also was suspended.

Among the markets that traded, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.7 per cent to 14,516.27 while China's Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.1 per cent to 2,097.75 after data earlier this week showed economic growth slowed to its lowest level since 2012.

Seoul's Kospi added 0.6 per cent to 2,004.28 and Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.3 per cent to 8,966.66. Benchmarks in Malaysia and Thailand were slightly higher.

On Thursday, global stocks were subdued after Google and IBM reported weak results, even though General Electric was optimistic and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley beat expectations.

On Wall Street, the Standard & Poor's 500 rose two points, or 0.1 per cent, to close at 1,864.85. The Dow Jones industrial average, however, fell 16 points, or 0.1 per cent, to close at 16,408.54, hurt by the big drop in IBM.

The euro inched down to $1.3820 from $1.3816 late Thursday. The dollar was little changed at 102.42 yen from 102.43 yen.