The Nasdaq composite index drifted lower by 4.29 points, or 0.2percentto to close at 2,052.88, its third weekly decline in six weeks.
In very thin trading volumes, the leading index drifted 3.73 points higher to close at 5904.49 despite continuing concerns about a possible bail-out for Portugal, the continuing fighting in Libya, the unrest in the Middle East and the radiation leaks in Japan.
Seoul's KOSPI index drifted downward by 0.3%, to 1,567.71.
Singapore's Straits Times index drifted down by 4.53 points, or 0.3%, to 1,707.39.
The Shanghai Composite index slid 3.1%, to 3,700.26, while the Kospi in Seoul was up 0.3% to 1,579.87, and Singapores Straits Times index drifted 0.5% down, to 2,778.09.
The Shanghai Composite index drifted down by almost 0.5%, to 1,985.02, while Taiwan's Taiex weighted index edged up by 0.1%, to 4,247.97.
Market gauges remained stuck in narrow ranges, with the Standard & Poors 500 index drifting down 7.38 to 1120.88 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average giving up 40.16 to 8823.82.
Elsewhere, the Straits Times index in Singapore gave back 0.9%, to 2,880.45 Taiwann's Taiex weighted index drifted down 0.55%, to 7394.10; the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex index retreated by 4.2%, to 13,094.11.
They pledge to redeem ETN shares at the calculated market value, thus preventing indexing drift.
That news gave a whisper of momentum back to the bears Wednesday afternoon and the major indexes drifted to their session lows before the close.
