Stocks climb in tandem with Wall Street, setting records in Australia and Japan. In the UK, focus mainly on manufacturing PMI at 09:30 GMT

Throughout Asia, Japanese equities fared the best; the Nikkei 225 increased 1.7% to reach a new high of 39,920 points. Along with rising 1.1%, the larger TOPIX index also reached a lifetime high of 2,707.05 points.

The majority of Friday's gains came from technology companies, with Japanese chipmakers and stocks near chips matching disproportionate advances in their American counterparts due to optimism about artificial intelligence's future. Advantest gained 2.6%, while Tokyo Electron increased 4.6%.

As the nation's economic activity slowed, data indicating that the manufacturing sector dropped more than anticipated in January was mostly ignored by Japanese markets.

Growing speculation that the Reserve Bank of Australia will stop hiking interest rates was the main factor driving gains in Australian markets. The markets were upbeat ahead of the fourth quarter GDP reports that are expected next week.

Tech company increases contributed to Hong Kong's Hang Seng index's 0.5% increase, while China's Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indices increased by 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively.

While official Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) statistics indicated Chinese business activity remained sluggish through February, local markets continued their current uptrend.

China's manufacturing sector contracted for a sixth consecutive month, which kept total economic activity low even while non-manufacturing industries benefited from higher consumer spending over the Lunar New Year break.

According to a different private study, China's industrial sector expanded in February somewhat faster than anticipated.

Over in the UK…

UK home prices are currently rising.

The Nationwide House Price Index increased 1.2% year over year in February, defying market predictions of a 0.7% gain and snapping a 12-month losing run.

It happened one day after Zoopla statistics revealed that, in line with forecasts, the number of mortgage agreements in the UK grew by 15% in January.

Based on the statistics, it appears that the worst of the cost-of-living pinch may be behind us and that buyers are making a comeback to the market.

Deposit-free mortgages have also been quite popular among borrowers, and the government's planned backing of 99% of mortgages in the next budget is probably going to increase market activity even more.

Key Events Today:

• UK Manufacturing PMI at 09:30 GMT
• Eurozone CPI  at 10:00 GMT
• Manufacturing PMI 14:45 GMT
• ISM Manufacturing PMI 15:00 GMT

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)