Tokyo, Japan (BBN)-Asian shares headed mostly higher on Friday taking a positive lead from Wall Street after inflation data cooled expectations of a rate rise.
The producer prices index fell 0.4% in April, indicating that the Federal Reserve may hold off raising interest rates until the later part of the year, reports BBC.
Both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 were up 1% on the back of both that and positive employment data.
In Japan, the leading Nikkei index rose 0.8% to 19,721.95 points.
Shares of electronics maker Sharp were down 1% after it reported on Thursday it had agreed a 200bn yen ($1.7bn; £1bn) bailout from banks after announcing further losses and job cuts.
In China, shares traded mixed with the Shanghai Composite down 0.4% at 4,359.57, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.5% at 27,432.53.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.5% at 5,726.6.
Shares of Atlas Iron traded flat despite it saying that would resume full mining operations after surviving a near bankruptcy on slumping iron ore prices last month.
South Korean shares were lower after the Bank of Korea left interest rates unchanged at 1.75% for the second consecutive month.
The benchmark Kospi index was down 0.1% to 2,118.39.