Traders in Asia will also look toward August consumer prices index from Japan and Hong Kong, and central bank decisions from Bank of Japan and People's Bank of China.

Asia-Pacific markets on Friday were mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei 225 leading the gains after Wall Street soared overnight following the Federal Reserve’s outsized rate cut. Market participants also reacted to PBOC rates holding despite the Fed Cut,

Japan's Nikkei share average jumped more than 2 per cent in the morning session on Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, while traders also kept a wary eye ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy decision later in the day.

Japan's core consumer inflation accelerated for the fourth straight month in August and tracked comfortably above the central bank's 2% target, data showed on Friday, keeping alive expectations for further interest rate hikes.

Japan’s key inflation gauge accelerated in August for a fourth consecutive month, hours before the Bank of Japan is scheduled to wrap up its latest policy decision meeting.

The core consumer price index in Japan, which excludes fresh food but includes fuel costs, increased by 2.8% year-on-year in August 2024, posting the highest reading since February and..