Markets in Australia, Japan and South Korea rose, while the dollar advanced against a basket of currencies in early morning trade.
Asia markets rose in early trade on Friday, after U. S. stocks rallied overnight at the increasing likelihood that the Senate might pass a bill aimed at overhauling the U. S. tax code. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 24,000 for the first time.
In Australia, the ASX 200 topped 6,000 after the first hour of trade. The index rose 0.59 percent to 6,005.20 at 8:11 a.m. HK/SIN. Major banking stocks rose, with shares of ANZ up 1.12 percent and Westpac higher by 1.08 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.97 percent to 22,945.27, while the Topix index gained 0.72 percent. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi gained 0.29 percent.
Elsewhere, China’s November Caixin manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, which focuses on the country’s small and mid-sized businesses, is expected at 9:45 a.m. HK/SIN.
Stateside, Senator John McCain said he will back the Senate GOP’s tax bill, boosting the plan’s chances of clearing the Senate by Friday. McCain had been one of the last GOP senators not committed to supporting the proposal.
Elsewhere, the dollar last traded at 93.047 against a basket of currencies. The greenback rose from an earlier low of 92.729.
Among other currency majors, the Japanese yen traded at 112.52 to the dollar, weakening from a previous low of 111.71. The relatively weaker yen saw many export stocks gain in Japan — shares of Toyota were up 0.98 percent, Honda was up 0.91 percent and Mitsubishi Electric added 1.03 percent. A relatively weaker yen is usually a positive for exporters as it increases their overseas revenue when converted into local currency.
Elsewhere, Sharp shares rose 4.81 percent in early trade, after the company said it received approval from the Tokyo Stock Exchange to return to the exchange’s first section on Dec. 7,2017. Sharp’s common shares were reassigned to the second section of the market last year.
The Australian dollar fetched $0.7561, while the euro traded at $1.19. The British pound rose from levels near $1.33 in the previous week to trade at $1.3534.
Energy prices are set to be in focus in the Friday session after OPEC and Russia agreed on Thursday to extend their oil output cuts to the end of 2018 .
Though the move was expected by many, the oil producers had earlier indicated they could walk from the deal if they felt the market was overheating.
The deal to cut oil output by 1.8 million barrels a day was adopted last winter by OPEC, Russia and nine other global producers. The agreement was due to end in March 2018, having already been extended once.
« The world’s biggest oil-producing countries believe that a global oversupply of oil is still weighing down oil prices noting that oil in storage — a proxy for the global glut — remains well above historical averages, » Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at the National Australia Bank, wrote in a morning note.
Energy plays in Australia rose, with Santos shares gaining 1.08 percent, Oil Search up 2.49 percent and Woodside Petroleum higher by 2 percent. Japan’s Inpex was also up 2.02 percent and Japan Petroleum advanced 3.03 percent.
U. S. crude rose 0.2 percent to $57.4 and global benchmark Brent was up $63.57 a barrel on Thursday.
— CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk and Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.
