This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia markets rose after Wall Street gained for a third straight day as tech stocks rallied, with investors assessing the trade climate as the U.S. tones down tariff rhetoric and China reportedly mulls suspending tariffs.
China may waive its 125% tariff on certain U.S. goods, Bloomberg reported citing sources familiar with the matter. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.24% higher, closing at 21,963.09 while mainland China's CSI 300 traded flat to close at 3,786.99.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% to close at 35,705.74 and the Topix added 1.37% to end the trading day at 2,628.03. South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.95% to close at 2,546.3 while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.5% to close at 729.69 as South Korea also reportedly inches closer to striking a trade deal with the U.S.
Australian markets are closed for a holiday.
Futures linked to the S&P 500 were 0.3% higher, while Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.4%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered around the flatline.
Overnight stateside, the three major averages closed higher thanks to strong gains in megacap tech names, as investors continued to look for signs of progress on the global trade front.
The S&P 500 ended up 2.03% at 5,484.77, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 2.74% to finish at 17,166.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged the other two indexes, weighed down by a 6.6% drop in IBM, but still added 486.83 points, or 1.23%, at 40,093.40.
Shares of Nvidia, Meta, Amazon, Tesla and Microsoft all closed higher, propelling the major averages to their third day of gains in a row
"Investors are becoming more comfortable with the uncertainties of tariffs as earnings roll in," said Louis Navellier, chairman and founder of Navellier & Associates. "The market seems to be positioning itself for a near-term reduction in the current sky-high China tariffs," he added.
- CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
Asia has the "room to ease monetary policy," said Krishna Srinivasan, Head of Asia & Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund, as inflation in many countries in the region is at or below target.
In the case of Japan, the IMF forecasts that the country will reach its 2% inflation target by 2027, Srinivasan added.
India markets fell Friday amid a broader rise in the region as tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad rise following a deadly attack in Kashmir that reportedly killed 26 tourists.
The Nifty 50 fell 1.27%, while the BSE Sensex was down 1.35%.
India downgraded its ties with Pakistan following the attack and suspended a water-sharing treaty with the neighboring country. It has reportedly pointed the finger toward Pakistan, which has denied involvement in the attack.
South Korea has asked for "calm" and "orderly" discussions with the U.S. on trade issues, as Asia's fourth largest economy reportedly seeks to work out a deal with the U.S. by July to avoid tariffs.
In the so-called "2+2" talks in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Dukgeun met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
According to South Korean media outlet Yonhap, Choi told reporters that further talks will focus on four categories: tariff-and non-tariff measures; economic security; investment cooperation; and monetary policies.
A readout from South Korea's Ministry of Finance said Choi proposed to seek mutually beneficial solutions for both countries, as well as communicated South Korea's concerns about tariffs, according to a CNBC translation.
China is mulling the suspension of its 125% tariff on certain U.S. goods, Bloomberg reported citing sources familiar with the matter.
The government is considering scrapping the extra duties on items including medical equipment and industrial chemicals such as ethane. Authorities are also reportedly debating scrapping the tariff on aircraft leases.
The offshore yuan strengthened slightly to 7.284 against the greenback.
Most Chinese consumers remain pragmatic in their spending decisions amid U.S.-China trade tensions, Goldman Sachs wrote in an April 24 note.
"There appears to be limited direct correlation between Chinese consumer sentiment towards U.S. brands and the U.S.' tariff policy", the investment bank's team said. The report added that based off sales data from select categories like automobiles, mobile phones and sportswear, U.S. brands did not "meaningfully deteriorate."
Boycott news or search volumes initiated by consumers have been far below previous accounts of geopolitical strife, Goldman also observed.
"We believe brand momentum/product cycle play a relatively more important role in market share shift patterns," the economists wrote, adding that brands with higher pricing and lack of innovation tend to be more vulnerable.
China is expected to post its April PMI figures next week, which will be the first available factory activity data from the country to evaluate the U.S. tariff shock.
ANZ economists said in a report published Friday that they expect manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs to dip to 49.5 and 50.5 respectively. This would compare against March's official purchasing managers' index which came in at 50.5 in March, while non-manufacturing PMI, which covers services and construction, was at 50.8.
"The first order impact brought by the U.S. tariff will likely be on the new export orders, not the broad domestic demand and production," wrote ANZ.
Shares of South