A Japanese flag flies as shoppers and pedestrians walk past stores on a shopping street in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, November 23, 2016.
Chihiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Friday, led by Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, while Wall Street stocks soared overnight after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates.
Japanese core consumer price index Year-on-year growth was 2.8%, in line with Reuters forecasts, after rising 2.7% last month. Excluding fresh food and energy, inflation was 2%, compared with 1.9% last month.
The data will be the last indicator on the economy before the Bank of Japan concludes its two-day monetary policy meeting, where it is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.25%.
The yen fell 0.10% to 142.76.
The People’s Bank of China also plans to announce its benchmark lending rate decisions on a monthly basis.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index edged up 0.2%.
Japanese Nikkei 225 Index rose 1.9%, and the Topix rose 1.63%.
South Korea’s blue-chip Kospi rose 1.45%, while the Kosdaq index of small-cap stocks rose 1.51%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index The futures index was at 18,177 points, higher than the Hang Seng Index’s last closing price of 18,013 points.
All three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.26% to close at 42,025.19 points, breaking through the 42,000-point mark for the first time.
The S&P 500 index rose 1.7% to close at 5,713.64 points, breaking through 5,700 points for the first time.
The Nasdaq rose 2.51% to close at 18,013.98 points.
All three major stock indexes posted weekly gains, with the S&P 500 index rising nearly 1.6% as of Thursday’s close. The Dow gained 1.5% for the week, while the Nasdaq gained 1.9%, outperforming the broader market.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
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