SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia rebounded Friday with most of the major indices making solid gains.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo climbed 540.35 points or 2.06 percent to 26,710.65.

The Australian All Ordinaries rose 151.80 points or 2.13 percent to 7,266.30.

China's Shanghai Composite gave up 32.81 points or 0.97 percent to 3,361.44.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng, going against the trend, dived 256.92 points or 1.08 percent to 23,550.08.

The U.S. dollar drifted lower on Friday, giving back a small portion of the last two days' gains. The euro clawed back to 1.1154. The British pound firmed to 1.3414. The Japanese yen was a tad higher at 115.37. The Swiss franc was slightly stronger at 0.9292.

The Canadian dollar inched up to1.2718. The Australian dollar crept up to 0/.7040. The New Zealand dollar edged up to 0.6584.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones shrank 7.31 points or 0.02 percent to 34,160.78.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite shed 189.34 points or 1.40 percent to 13,352.78.

The Standard and Poor's 500 dropped 23.42 points or 0.54 percent to 4,326.51.