Most Asian stocks advanced on Friday, with technology shares tracking stellar overnight gains in their U.S. peers following stronger-than-expected earnings from Google owner Alphabet.

Japanese markets were the best performers in the region, as optimism over U.S. trade talks helped them rally past hotter-than-expected Tokyo inflation data that pushed up expectations of more interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan. 

Regional markets took a positive lead-in from Wall Street, which closed substantially higher on Thursday amid some optimism over trade talks between the U.S. and China. Hints of more interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve also aided gains. 

U.S. stock index futures rose in Asian trade, with Nasdaq 100 Futures up 0.5% following strong earnings from Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL). 

Asia tech stocks boosted by Alphabet, AI optimism 

Tech-heavy bourses such as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, South Korea’s KOSPI, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 were the top gainers, advancing between 0.6% and 1.4% with the Nikkei in the lead. 

Gains in tech came following U.S. stocks, after internet giant Alphabet clocked substantially stronger-than-expected earnings and flagged no changes in its artificial intelligence ambitions. 

Before that, tech stocks were also boosted by both Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) stating that AI-driven demand for chips and data centers was likely to remain solid, helping ease some fears of an investment slowdown in the sector. 

The storm of positive factors helped spur buying into tech stocks, which were the most hit by a prolonged market downturn so far in 2025. 

Among individual stocks, Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) Inc (HK:9888) soared 4% in Hong Kong trade after the Chinese internet giant launched updated versions of its flagship Ernie AI model. Electric vehicle maker BYD (HK:1211) rose 0.7% before its March quarter earnings, which are due later in the day. 

Japan stocks rise past hot Tokyo CPI on trade deal hopes

Gains in tech boosted the Nikkei, while Japan’s TOPIX also added 1.1%.

This came even as Tokyo consumer price index inflation rose sharply in April, beating expectations and granting the BOJ more headroom to raise interest rates. 

The central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates steady when it meets next week, but expectations for more hikes later this year are growing steadily.

Japanese markets have been on a tear this week after reports showed government officials were set to begin a new round of U.S. trade talks later this month.

Chinese stocks muted, trade deal hopes scattered 

China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes lagged their peers, moving in a flat-to-low range on Friday. 

Underperformance in Chinese markets came as investors fretted over the long-term economic impact of a bitter trade war with the United States, after Washington and Beijing exchanged steep trade tariffs earlier this month. 

Markets were little enthused by mixed signals on trade talks. U.S. President Donald Trump claimed his administration was in dialogue with China, while Beijing said no trade talks had taken place. 

Broader Asian markets were mostly negative amid persistent risk aversion. Singapore’s Straits Times index shed 0.5%, while futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a flat open.