Asia is set for a positive open on the last day of March, after Wall Street closed higher, ahead of key economic data out of Japan and China.
Nikkei futures pointed to a higher open for Japan’s Nikkei 225 , which last closed at 19,063.22. Futures in Osaka were trading up 19,200 and futures in Chicago were up 19,270.
Ahead, Japan will release its February Consumer Price Index and household spending. China’s official march manufacturing and non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index are also on tap.
Down Under, the ASX 200 was down 0.05 percent in early trade.
U.S. stocks finished higher on Thursdays, led by financials and energy stocks, after U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product was revised up to a growth of 2.1 percent year-on-year, higher than the initial estimate of 1.9 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.33 percent at 20,728.49, the S&P 500 added 0.29 percent to finish at 2,368.06 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 percent to post a record close at 5,91434.
Early Friday, a South Korean court approved a warrant to arrest ousted president Park Geun-hye, the country’s first democratically-elected leader to be thrown out of office.
Oil prices surged to their highest in three weeks after Kuwait Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said his country was in support of extending the OPEC production cut deal.
During Thursday U.S time, Brent crude was up 1 percent to settle at $52.96 a barrel and U.S. crude was up 1.7 percent to settle at $50.35.
The dollar was stronger at 100.41 against a basket of currencies, higher compared to levels of around 99 earlier this week. The dollar/yen stood at 111.77, while the Australian dollar fetched $0.7642.