Asia shares dragged lower by Japan, dollar still groggy

A rout in Japanese shares led Asian markets lower on Friday as a gloomy suite of surveys on Japanese manufacturing sparked heavy fund selling and overshadowed upbeat news from China's vast factory sector. Much of the damage was done by Japan's Nikkei which sank over 3 percent in its steepest daily fall since mid-February. The report crystallised concerns that the BOJ's dramatic shift to negative rates was not working, and might never work.