Following Wall Street's lead, On Friday MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.29%. The index has gained nearly 1% this week. Asian stocks gained early , as hopes for a thaw in the U.S.-China trade conflict fed investor appetites for risk assets.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed lifting some or all tariffs imposed on Chinese imports and suggested offering a tariff rollback during trade discussions scheduled for Jan. 30. U.S. stocks rallied following the report, but pared some of those gains after a Treasury spokesperson told CNBC that Mnuchin had not made any such recommendations. For the day, all three major U.S. indexes were up, led by a surge in industrial stocks.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit the United States on Jan. 30 and 31 for the latest round of trade talks aimed at resolving the bitter dispute between the world's two largest economies.
China's fourth-quarter economic growth, due to be reported on Monday, likely slowed to the weakest pace since the global financial crisis, a Reuters poll showed, as demand faltered at home and abroad.
Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal suffered a heavy defeat in parliament this week but she survived a subsequent vote of confidence, removing some political uncertainty for now.
The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 2.746% after going brushing 2.761% the previous day, its highest in three weeks.
U.S. crude oil futures extended gains after rising the previous day on a rebound in Wall Street and news that OPEC sharply curtailed production in December. U.S. crude futures added 1.25% to $52.68 per barrel.
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