South Korea’s Kospi rose over 2% to hit a record high on Friday, amid regional gains after the White House said that U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping were set to hold talks next week.
The Nikkei 225 regained 658.04 points, or 1.4%, to 49,299.65.
Japan’s core inflation rate accelerated to 2.9% in September, the first increase since May and in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters.
This was higher than the 2.7% seen in August. The core inflation metric in Japan strips out the prices of fresh food but includes energy costs.
Headline inflation in Japan also climbed to 2.9% from 2.7% the previous month.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index hiked 192.17 points, or 0.7%. to 26,160.15.
U.S. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will leave for Malaysia late Friday and then travel to Japan and South Korea, meeting Xi next Thursday after speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit.
Korea’s finance ministry said Friday it was ready to step in to stabilize the foreign exchange market if needed, amid persistent volatility in the won-dollar trade.
The South Korean won, which strengthened 0.11% to 1,434.7 against the dollar on Friday, has dropped more than 4% against the greenback over the last three months. It has appreciated 2.86% against the dollar this year.
Australian markets ended negative, as the Reserve Bank of Australia is planning to review upgrades to the nation’s interbank settlement system from next year, Governor Michele Bullock said Friday.
She said the central bank will examine ways to modernize the Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System — the nation’s interbank settlement platform — including adopting newer data-exchange technology, extending operating hours, and expanding the use of central bank money for settlements.
In other markets
Markets in Taiwan were shuttered for holiday.
In Korea, the Kospi restocked 96.03 points, or 2.5%, to 3,941.59.
The CSI 300 in Shanghai gained 54.34 points, or 1.2%, to 4,660.68
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index eked 5.94 points, or 0.1%, to 4,422.21
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 poked ahead 14.49 points, or 0.1%, to 13,391.59
In Australia, the ASX 200 faded 13.8 points, or 0.2%, to 9,018.95.
