Asian shares mixed after S&P 500 squeaks to new record high

Asian shares were mixed Friday after a late-in-the-day wave of buying pushed the S&P 500 to a fresh record high.

Benchmarks rose in Hong Kong and Tokyo but fell in Sydney and Shanghai.

An official newspaper, the Securities Times, said China Evergrande Group made an overdue bond payment on Friday. The property developer's struggle to reduce its 2 trillion yuan ($310 billion) of debt to comply with tighter official curbs on borrowing has prompted fears a default might trigger a financial crisis.

Evergrande wired $83.5 million to account for a bond payment that was due Sept. 23, the report said. The company's Hong Kong-traded shares gained 3.5%.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong climbed 0.1% to 26,046.44 and the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.1% to 3,591.25.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to 28,833.48 while the Kospi in Seoul lost 0.2% to 3,000.02. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was flat at 7,415.50.

On Wall Street on Thursday, the benchmark S&P 500 bounced back from an early slide to rise 0.3% to 4,549.78, its seventh straight gain. That eclipsed the record high it set on Sept. 2. It is on pace for its third straight weekly gain.

The Dow slipped less than 0.1%, to 35,603.08, pulled lower by IBM's 9.6% slump after it reported quarterly revenue that fell shy of analysts’ forecasts. It is just below its all-time high set on Aug. 16.

The Nasdaq gained 0.6% to 15,215.70.

Smaller stocks edged higher. The Russell 2000 rose 0.3%, to 2,296.18.

A mix of companies that rely on direct consumer spending led the gains Thursday. Home Depot rose 1.8% and Pool Corp. gained 7.7%.

Financial companies also fell broadly. Capital One slid 4.4% and Discover Financial Services dropped 6.1%.

The uneven finish came as investors continued to review the latest company earnings reports, with global...