Japan's Nikkei falls but other Asian markets rise

Asian markets traded mostly higher on Friday as investors kept a close eye on developments in Europe and hopes for a deal with Greece.

Greece said it would talk to creditors about fixing its debt problem when another round of meetings begins later on Friday.

However, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% to 17,913.36 after closing at its highest since July 2007 on Thursday.

Friday's fall was put down to profit-taking and a strengthening in the yen.

The dollar fell back to 118.93 yen, from Thursday's level of 120.27. A stronger yen is a disadvantage for Japanese exporters as it makes their products more expensive abroad.

Chinese shares traded higher, following US gains overnight, but investors remained cautious ahead of a long Chinese New Year holiday.

The Shanghai Composite closed up 0.96% at 3,203.83, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up 1.07% at 24,682.54.

Shares in China were boosted by the central bank's move to allow companies in Shanghai's Free Trade Zone to conduct overseas financing without government approvals.

In Australia, shares surged to a near seven-year peak on firmer commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 2.3% at 5,877.5, and at one point during the day hit 5,893.5 - its highest since May 2008.

Shares in mining heavyweight Rio Tinto jumped 6.5% after it announced it would return $2bn to shareholders.

But, shares of Australia's biggest gold miner, Newcrest, were down 0.1% after it reported that its half-year underlying profit was down 7m Australian dollars ($5.4m; £3.5m) from a year ago.

South Korean shares also closed higher with the Kospi index rising 0.8% to 1,957.5.

Investors ignored data that showed the country's exports in January fell 0.7% from a year ago, weaker than a preliminary 0.4% decline reported earlier.