Asian markets experienced a positive day on Friday, following a record-setting performance on Wall Street. This rise was largely driven by optimistic U.S. economic data, which reinforced investor confidence in the strength of the world’s leading economy.

The latest figures revealed that the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter grew more than initially anticipated, while jobless claims saw a decline. This suggested that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to steer the economy towards a “soft landing” while managing inflation were on track.

This reassured markets as they await the release of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge and the crucial non-farm payrolls report in the coming days, which will heavily influence the Fed’s decisions regarding interest rate cuts.Asian tech firms, which had been impacted by a retreat following Nvidia's earnings report, showed recovery.

Markets in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, and other key regions saw healthy gains. Additionally, the yen strengthened slightly against the dollar after inflation data from Tokyo exceeded expectations, further fueling speculation about potential interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.

Key Figures (around 0230 GMT):

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 38,585.43

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 17,985.30

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 2,833.14

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.80 yen

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1074Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3168West Texas Intermediate (WTI): UP 0.2 percent at $76.03 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $79.99 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 41,335.05London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 8,379.64