Most Asian stocks declined Friday as fears that the European debt crisis is deepening outweighed positive U.S. economic indicators and hopes for strong U.S. jobs data later in the day.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 1.2% lower at 8390.35, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.2% to 18593.06 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.8% to 4108.50.

South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.1% to 1843.14 and Taiwan's Taiex gave up 0.2% to 7120.51.

"The bond auctions in Europe are still weighing on the minds of investors," said Louis Capital Markets' head of Japanese equities Ben Collett, referring to an increase in borrowing costs for the French and Italian governments Thursday.

The Shanghai Composite gained 0.7% to 2163.40, staging a rebound from its 34-month closing low a day earlier. Mainland Chinese stocks advanced as energy producer PetroChina jumped after Beijing raised a threshold for a so-called windfall tax, effectively reducing oil producers' taxes. Banks and resource stocks also climbed after hefty recent losses, although many property developers declined on Chinese bourses.

PetroChina shares climbed 1.6% and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, added 0.8% in Shanghai. Shares of China Construction Bank added 1.5% and Jiangxi Copper rose 1.7%, while Poly Real Estate Group shed 1%.

In Hong Kong, shares of PetroChina added 2.3% and Sinopec climbed 1.8%, while Cnooc advanced 3%. In a note Friday, Citigroup said the tax change should boost PetroChina earnings by 16%, and those of Cnooc and Sinopec by about 10% each.

But those gains in Hong Kong were far outweighed by losses in financial and other shares amid worries over Europe, and despite optimism about the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for December due later Friday.

Shares of HSBC Holdings fell 2%, while Ping An Insurance Group lost 4.5% in Hong Kong. Financials also weakened elsewhere, with National Australia Bank dropping 1.4% in Sydney, KB Financial Group losing 1.6% in Seoul and Chinatrust Financial Holding falling 3.3% in Taipei.

Louis Capital's Mr. Collett also cited disappointment after the White House denied speculation that the U.S. was considering a massive trillion-dollar mortgage-refinance program for the day's losses.

"I think we're seeing some mid-market selling because there was a lot of excitement about rumors" of such a package, he said. "We opened far too optimistically this morning."

Japanese exporters with large exposure to Europe were among the market casualties Friday, as the euro lost further ground against the Japanese yen overnight, falling below the ¥99 level.

Sony lost 2% and Advantest dropped 3.3%, while Nissan Motor gave up 2.2%.

Several energy stocks moved lower after benchmark crude oil futures lost ground Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Japan Petroleum Exploration dropped 1.5% in Tokyo, and Santos fell 0.4% in Sydney.

Shares of Samsung Electronics fell 1.4% in a downbeat Seoul market, failing to find support from its fourth-quarter outlook of a 73% rise in operating profit.