Japanese stocks extended their advance on Friday, closing above the 19,000 mark for the first time in 15 years.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index piled on another 263.14 points, or 1.4%, to 19.254.25, its best closing level since April 2000
The yen softened against the U.S. dollar to ¥121.33 from ¥121.09 at the previous Tokyo stock close.
The Hang Seng Index finally gained 25.25 points, or 0.3%, to 23,823.21
Helping lift Japanese markets was a 13% surge in index heavyweight Fanuc Corp. after a Nikkei report said the industrial-robot manufacturer planned to boost its shareholder returns.
Shares of several major tech exporters also advanced, as semiconductor maker Tokyo Electron Ltd. surged 1.8%, and both electronics giant Hitachi Ltd. and console maker Nintendo Co. Ltd. each rose 1.7%.
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 moved higher 24.81 points, or 0.7%, to 3,617.66
The Taiex index in Taiwan scaled back 16.65 points, or 0.2%, to 9,579.35
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index dipped 10.83 points, or 0.3%, to 3,362.77
The Kospi index in Korea recovered 15.20 points, or 0.8%, to 1,985.79
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 21.81 points, or 0.4%, to 5,908.59
The S&P/ASX index lost 35.63 points, or 0.6%, to end the week at 5,814.54
