A Japanese flag is raised as shoppers and pedestrians pass by a store in a shopping street in Tokyo, Wednesday, November 23, 2016.
Tomohiro Osumi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei leading the way after Wall Street surged overnight following a big interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Japanese Core Consumer Price Index In line with Reuters estimates, inflation rose 2.8% from a year earlier, after rising 2.7% in the previous month. Excluding fresh food and energy, inflation was 2% from 1.9% in the previous month.
The reading will be the final economic data to be released 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 Japanese yen was almost flat at 142.67 yen.
The People's Bank of China is also due to announce its decision on the monthly benchmark lending rate.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average Stock prices rose 1.9%, while the Tokyo Stock Price Index rose 1.63%.
South Korea's blue-chip KOSPI rose 1.45%, while the small-cap KOSDAQ added 1.51%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index Futures were at 18,177, above the HSI's last close of 18,013.
Futures tracking the CSI 300 index of mainland China's blue chip stocks were at 3,198.8, below the index's last closing price of 3,196.
Overnight in the US, all three major indexes rose, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.26% to close at 42,025.19, surpassing the 42,000 mark for the first time.
The S&P 500 rose 1.7% to finish at 5,713.64, topping 5,700 for the first time.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.51% to close at 18,013.98.
The three major indexes are trending higher on a weekly basis, with the S&P 500 up nearly 1.6% through Thursday's close. The Dow is up 1.5% for the week, while the Nasdaq is outperforming it, rising 1.9%.
—CNBC's Lisa Kay-Lai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
