Asian shares at 9-month high after resilient US economic data

Asian stocks rose on Friday and were poised for their fifth straight week of gains after a set of data highlighted a resilient US economy, lifting investor sentiment ahead of next week's slate of central bank monetary policy meetings.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.53 per cent to almost nine-month highs of 561.99. The index, which fell nearly 20 per cent last year, is up about 11 per cent in the month and is on course for its best ever January performance. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.20 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened 0.2 per cent higher after surging more than 2 per cent on Thursday. Mainland China markets are due to resume on Monday after the Lunar New Year holiday.

The US economy grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter as consumers boosted spending on goods, data showed, but it could be the last quarter of solid GDP growth before the lagged effects of the Federal Reserve's jumbo interest rate hikes are fully felt.

A separate report showed that labour market remains tight and could lead the Fed to keep interest rates higher for longer.

Thursday's set of data has raised investor hopes of a soft landing - a scenario in which inflation eases against a backdrop of slowing but resilient economic growth.

Wall Street ended a choppy session higher overnight on those hopes.

"While the strong headline, together with another sub-200k print for the weekly jobless claims, suggested that the US economy was holding up strongly in the wake of rapid Fed tightening, the details were still patchy," Saxo strategists said.

Futures are pricing a 94.7 per cent probability of a 25-basis-point hike next Wednesday and see the Fed's overnight rate at 4.45 per cent by next December, or lower than the 5.1 per cent rate Fed officials have projected into next year.

Data on US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) due at 1330 GMT will provide further clues on inflation.

"The disinflation impulse is likely to stretch further, as has been evident from CPI (Consumer Price Index) releases lately, likely continuing to build a case for a 25 basis point rate hike by the Fed next week," Saxo strategists said.

Next week will also feature Bank of England and European Central Bank meetings that will indicate the monetary policy path the central banks are likely to take.

Elsewhere in Japan, core consumer prices in Tokyo, a leading indicator of nationwide trends, rose 4.3 per cent in January from a year earlier, marking the fastest annual gain in nearly 42 years.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.38 per cent to 129.71 per dollar as the data reinforced market expectation that rising inflation could nudge the Bank of Japan to move away from its ultra-easy policy.

"We still think the policy change is a long way off," ING regional head of research Robert Carnell said. "The Spring salary negotiations are key to watch as wage growth is a prerequisite for sustainable inflation."

The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other peers, eased 0.039 per cent, with the euro up 0.07 per cent to $1.0897.

Sterling was last trading at $1.241, up 0.03% on the day.

Oil prices rose on expectations of a boost to demand from China's reopening and after the strong US data. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.31 per cent to $81.26 per barrel and Brent was at $87.67, up 0.23 per cent on the day.