Asian share markets inched up on Friday as US and Chinese officials kicked off a fresh round of trade talks in Beijing.
The Shanghai Composite index added 0.6 per cent to 28,944.33 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.7 per cent to 3,044.63. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.3 per cent to 2,134.28.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.0 per cent to 21,232.93. The country's retail sales fell slightly in February from a month earlier, preliminary data showed. But industrial production rose 1.4 per cent, as compared to January's 3.4 per cent decline.
The unemployment rate beat market expectations, falling to 2.3 per cent in February from 2.5 per cent in the previous month, reports AP.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.2 per cent at 6,189.80. Shares rose in Taiwan and Singapore but fell in Indonesia.
On Wall Street, most indexes finished higher. The broad S&P 500 index was 0.4 per cent higher at 2,815.44. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also gained 0.4 per cent to 25,717.46.
The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 per cent to 7,669.17 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks picked up 0.8 per cent to 1,535.10.
Benchmark US crude added 35 cents to $59.65 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 11 cents to settle at $59.30 per barrel on Thursday.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, edged up 37 cents to $67.47 per barrel. The contract shed 14 cents to $67.10 per barrel in London.
The dollar strengthened to 110.78 yen from 110.63 yen. The euro rose to $1.1228 from $1.1221.