Stocks in the Asia-Pacific traded higher on Friday as traders digested Tokyo's January core consumer prices that rose 4.3%, also faster than estimates — nearing the highest for Japan's capital since mid-1981.
The Nikkei 225 was slightly above the flatline to end its session at 27,382.56 and the Topix gained 0.22% to close at 1,982.66. The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond rose more than 3% to trade at 0.480%, inching close to the central bank's upper ceiling of its yield curve tolerance range.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.34% higher to 7,493.8. In South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.62% to 2,483.02 while the Kosdaq rose 0.31% to 741.25 as major company earnings were released in the region.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.24%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.62% — after a seeing a rally on the first trading session following the New Year holidays.
Wall Street's major indexes gained after the U.S. economy grew more than expected. Government data showed the economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.9% during the fourth quarter, higher than expectations. Stocks also gained as investors digested the latest batch of corporate earnings, with a Tesla-led tech rally.
— CNBC's Samantha Subin, Alex Harring contributed to this report