Asian shares rose on Friday, driven by a rally in Chinese markets after index publisher MSCI announced it would boost the proportion of mainland shares in its global benchmarks, while strong U.S. economic data helped the dollar higher.
Chinese shares rallied, with the blue-chip CSI300 index adding 1.2 percent after MSCI said it would quadruple the weighting of mainland shares in its global benchmarks later this year, potentially drawing more than $80 billion of fresh foreign inflows to the world's second-biggest economy.
That, along with strength in other markets in the region, helped push MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up more than 0.3 percent.
The boost in mainland stocks on Friday follows a strong run for Chinese shares, which posted their strongest month in nearly four years in February, largely driven by investor hopes for government stimulus and policy support, as well as optimism over U.S.-China trade talks.
"Just two months ago China was facing one of the worst years it's ever had in terms of equity market performance. So I think investors are taking very seriously the fact that the rebalancing of MSCI is happening," said Jim McCafferty, head of equity research, Asia ex-Japan at Nomura.
"There's a disconnect between China's place in the world economy and China's place in the world's stock markets. And the two things can't be diverged for so long," he said.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.9 percent, helped by a weaker yen, while Australian shares added 0.6 percent.
The gains in Asia contrast with a weaker finish on Wall Street on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.27 percent to 25,916 points, the S&P 500 lost 0.28 percent to 2,784.49 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.29 percent to 7,532.53.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday fueled concerns over trade talks between the United States and China, warning that he could walk away from a trade deal with China if it were not good enough.
But in subsequent comments Thursday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow called progress in the negotiations "fantastic" and said the countries were "heading towards a remarkable, historic deal."
Mixed messages on trade combined with the collapse of the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on denuclearization, and data from China showing slowing factory activity to pressure U.S. stocks.
"News that President Trump walked out of the meeting with Supreme Leader Kim, because the two sides couldn't reach an agreement over North Korea's nuclear disarmament, dashed hopes for an easing in geopolitical tensions," analysts at ANZ said in a morning note.
South Korea's financial markets are closed Friday for a public holiday.
HIGHER YIELDS
Better-than-expected U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter had little impact on U.S. stocks. Gross domestic product rose 2.9 percent for the year, just shy of the 3 percent goal set by the Trump administration.
The GDP data lifted yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes. After rising to a high of 2.7222 percent on Friday, the yield eased to 2.7168 percent, still up from a U.S. close of 2.711 percent on Thursday.
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan said on Thursday that it will take time to see how much the U.S. economy is slowing, supporting views of the Fed's rate-hike holiday at least through to June.
The dollar also rose on the U.S. data, adding 0.29 percent against the yen to 111.69, a new high for the year..
The dollar index which tracks the greenback against major rivals, was up 0.1 percent at 96.268.
In commodity markets, U.S. crude added 0.28 percent to $57.38 a barrel, and Brent crude rose 0.32 percent to $66.52 per barrel.
Spot gold was higher at $1,313.30 per ounce.
