Asian equities mainly higher; corporate earnings eyed

Asian stock indexes were mostly trading in green territory on Friday, amid an improving market sentiment as trade and war fears eased in the previous session.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 ended 0.64 percent higher and the Topix was up 0.63 percent. Financial and materials stocks were among best performers.

South Korea's Kospi benchmark also rose 0.51 percent during the session, finding strong support in technology names such as Samsung Electronics.

Meanwhile, Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.23 percent, with health care and materials coming on top the chart, leading other sectors higher in the day.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.08 percent by the time of this writing, while mainland indexes such as the Shanghai composite and the Shenzhen composite loss 0.65 percent and 0.37 percent respectively.

Earlier today, China’s trade balance in US dollars for March showed a deficit of 4.98 billion against a seen surplus of 27.21 billion. Exports dropped 2.7 percent while imports rose by 14.4 percent in March.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said an attack in Syria may not be necessary, although he insisted all alternatives are still on the table.

"Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our 'Thank you America?'" Trump tweeted Thursday.

In other news, Trump has allegedly asked his advisors to think about rejoining a major Trans-Pacific trade deal in the near future.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 293.60 points higher at 24,483.05. The S&P 500 added 0.8 percent to 2,663.99 and the Nasdaq composite soared 1 percent to 7,140.25.

Economic calendar:

Ahead in today’s session, traders will be paying attention to speeches by FOMC members Rosengren and Bullard as of 12:00 GMT and 13:00 GMT respectively.

On the data front, JOLTs job openings for February will be published at 14:00 GMT, along with Michigan Consumer Expectations and Sentiment indicators for April.

Attention will also be directed to corporate reports, with major financial names such as Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase due to release their numbers.

FortFS