Asian stocks were mixed on Friday as rising tensions in the Middle East obscured the investment outlook, while the dollar rebounded.

Crude oil prices were lower due to the dollar's bounce and as the market reassessed the potential impact of the escalating conflict in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and allies carried out air strikes on Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Thursday.

The euro was flat at $1.0881 knocked off an overnight high of $1.1052 after the dollar got a boost from encouraging U.S. jobless claims and service sector data.

The dollar edged up 0.1 percent to 119.28 yen after pulling back from a five-week trough of 118.33 struck overnight. The yen, as a safe-haven currency, tends to attracts bids at times of geopolitical tension.

Data on Friday showed Japan's core consumer price index was flat in February compared with a year before, when excluding the effect of last year's sales tax increase, the first time it has not risen in nearly two years. The yen showed little reaction.

U.S. crude was down 2 percent at $50.39 a barrel after jumping 4.5 percent overnight because of the military action in Yemen.

The Saudi-led operation has not affected the oil facilities of major Gulf producers.

But fears the conflict could spread and disrupt Middle East shipments have for now put a floor under the price of oil, which slumped to a six-year low earlier this month.

The air strikes in Yemen and a potential nuclear deal with Iran that could lead to a loosening of sanctions against Tehran would have little near-term impact on oil supplies, Goldman Sachs (GS) said.