South Korea's Kospi crossed the 8,000 mark for the first time on Friday, extending its record rally as investors tracked the second day of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The benchmark index rose more than 0.6% in early trade, while the small-cap Kosdaq index fell 0.4%.
The gains in South Korean equities came as investors bet that discussions between Washington and Beijing could ease tensions around trade, semiconductor exports and artificial intelligence-related industries.
Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.89%, while the broader Topix index gained 1.18%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.42%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures traded at 26,341, slightly below the benchmark's previous close of 26,389.04.
Trump-Xi Talks In Focus
Investor attention remained on the summit between Trump and Xi, which entered its second day on Friday.
Trump arrived in Beijing earlier this week for the closely watched meeting, accompanied by a group of U.S. business leaders that included Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang.
Market participants are watching for signs that the talks could lead to progress on trade relations and technology restrictions, particularly in sectors linked to semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
Wall Street Hits Fresh Records
Asian markets also took cues from another record session on Wall Street, where technology stocks and strong corporate earnings continued to support investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 370.26 points, or 0.75%, to close at 50,063.46 after Cisco Systems reported stronger-than-expected earnings.
The S&P 500 rose 0.77% to end at a record 7,501.24, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.88% to close at an all-time high of 26,635.22. Both indexes also touched fresh intraday highs during the session.
Broader Asian equities also advanced, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index heading for its sixth straight week of gains, its longest winning streak since January.
U.S. Futures Steady
U.S. stock futures were little changed in early Asian trade on Friday. Dow futures slipped 10 points, or 0.02%.
S&P 500 futures edged down 0.02%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.06%.
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