Investors are also likely to watch events unfolding in Brazil after the country’s president, Michel Temer, was linked to an ongoing corruption probe. The country’s benchmark Bovespa index fell more than 8 percent while major Brazilian stocks tumbled.
Nikkei futures in Chicago rose 0.31 percent to trade at 19,615 and Osaka futures gained 0.34 percent to trade at 19,620. Both were higher than the Nikkei 225’s close of 19,553.86 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Australian SPI futures edged lower by 0.2 percent to trade at 5,727 compared to the ASX 200’s close of 5,738.312.
Stateside, major indexes closed higher on Thursday after stocks experienced their worst day of 2017. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.27 percent or 56.09 points to close at 20,663.02, the S&P 500 added 0.37 percent or 8.69 points to finish at 2,365.72 and the Nasdaq jumped 0.73 percent or 43.89 points to end at 6,055.13.
In corporate news, Japan’s Toshiba is back in the spotlight on news that state-backed fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ) would sell a fifth of its shares in Renesas Electronics ahead of the sale of Toshiba’s chip unit. The move would add to the coffers of INCJ, which is expected by market watchers to bid for Toshiba’s memory chip unit.
The dollar index ticked upwards after tumbling from the 99 handle last week. The dollar last traded against a basket of rival currencies at 97.88. Dollar/yen also recovered to trade at 111.51, off the low of 110.51 seen in the previous session.
In energy news, oil prices rose after some producer countries indicated they would extend output cuts. Benchmark Brent crude added 30 cents to settle at $52.51 a barrel while U.S. crude gained 28 cents to settle at $49.35.