Bank of Japan, PBOC, Japan CPI, Fed rate cut

Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Friday with Japan’s Nikkei 225 leading gains, after Wall Street soared overnight following the Federal Reserve’s outsized rate cut.

Japan’s core consumer prices index climbed 2.8% year on year, in line with Reuters estimates, versus a 2.7% rise in the previous month. Excluding fresh food and energy, the inflation figure was 2%, versus 1.9% in the previous month.

The reading will be the last gauge of the economy before the BOJ concludes its two-day monetary policy meeting, where it’s expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.25%.

The Japanese yen weakened 0.10% to 142.76.

China’s PBOC is also scheduled to announce its decision on benchmark lending rates at a monthly fixing.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped as much as 1.9% and the broad-cased Topix added 1.63%.

South Korea’s blue chip Kospi gained 1.45% and the small-cap Kosdaq was up 1.51%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 18,177, higher than HSI’s last close of 18,013.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes ended higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.26% to close at 42,025.19, crossing the 42,000 threshold for the first time.

The S&P 500 added 1.7% to end at 5,713.64, topping 5,700 for the first time.

The Nasdaq Composite surged 2.51% to finish at 18,013.98.

The three major averages are on pace for weekly gains, with the S&P 500 up nearly 1.6% through Thursday’s close. The Dow is toting a 1.5% jump on the week, while the Nasdaq is outperforming with a 1.9% advance.

—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.