Major indexes in Asia climb as Kiwi dollar falls to multi-month lows

• Asian markets climb
• The New Zealand dollar fell
• Japan's snap election on Oct. 22 is in focus
• China's central bank governor on Thursday warned that too much optimism in markets could lead to a collapse of asset prices
• President Trump reportedly favors Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell to succeed Fed Chair Janet Yellen

Asian stocks rose on Friday after Wall Street wobbled and European stocks took a stumble overnight.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.18 percent after notching its 13th straight positive close on Thursday. Politics were also in the spotlight as the country prepares to head to the polls on Oct. 22.

Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi edged up 0.51 percent. Most blue-chip tech stocks pared losses made on Thursday: Samsung Electronics rose 1.47 percent and SK Hynix gained 3.92 percent. Those gains offset moderate losses seen in manufacturing names.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 was higher by 0.48 percent, with the utilities sub-index rising 1.92 percent to lead gains on the broader index.

The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.83 percent, recouping some losses after closing nearly 2 percent down on Thursday. Experts attributed the fall to a range of factors including tighter liquidity and comments from the governor of China's central bank.

People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan had warned Thursday that too much optimism in markets could lead to a collapse of asset prices, Reuters reported.

Mainland markets were mixed after closing moderately lower on Thursday: The Shanghai Composite was off 0.02 percent and the Shenzhen Composite rose 0.217 percent.

India markets remain closed for a public holiday.

Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
NIKKEI	NIKKEI	21451.78		3.26	0.02%
HSI	HSI	28361.22		202.13	0.72%
ASX 200	S&P/ASX 200	5913.30		17.17	0.29%
SHANGHAI	Shanghai	3369.85		-0.32	-0.01%
KOSPI	KOSPI Index	2483.66		10.60	0.43%
CNBC 100	CNBC 100 ASIA IDX	8357.28		6.55	0.08%

The greenback rose following headlines that the Senate had passed a budget proposal that allowed Republicans to move closer to eventually passing tax reform.

The U.S. currency rose against the Japanese yen to fetch 113.17 — above levels around the 112 handle seen most of this week. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, edged up to 93.340 at 10:00 a.m. HK/SIN.

Yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note inched higher to 2.3483 percent after falling to 2.3178 percent on Thursday.

Investors stateside also digested a Politico report that President Donald Trump favored Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell out of a pool of candidates being considered to succeed Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Powell is seen as less hawkish than Stanford University economist John Taylor, another candidate who had been regarded by market watchers as a front-runner.

Trump is expected to make his decision early in November before he departs on a trip to Asia.

U.S. markets, which initially recorded declines earlier in the session, finished Thursday near the flat line following the news. Still, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.02 percent, or 5.44 points, at a record 23,163.04.

Elsewhere, European stocks closed lower on Thursday after Spain's government said it would suspend the autonomy of Catalonia after its leader did not give clarity on the region's independence. The STOXX 600 declined some 0.6 percent and Spain's IBEX lost 0.74 percent.

In individual stocks, Apple suppliers in Taiwan were mixed after shares of the American tech giant slid in U.S. trade on reports of poor iPhone 8 sales: Largan Precision tumbled 2 percent, Hon Hai Precision Industry was down 1.33 percent, but Pegatron rose 1.4 percent.

Over in Japan, shares of Nissan fell 2.01 percent after the automaker said Thursday it was suspending production in Japan for a period. The suspension will take place for a minimum of two weeks as the automaker looks into issues with its inspection systems, Reuters reported.

The New Zealand dollar was also in focus after the currency tumbled in the last session on news that the Labour Party would form a coalition government with the nationalist party, New Zealand First. The Kiwi dollar traded at $0.6973, off levels around the $0.71 handle seen for most of the week.

On the energy front, oil prices were a touch firmer after settling more than 1 percent lower in the last session on profit-taking. Brent crude tacked on 0.12 percent to trade at $57.30 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate added 0.18 percent to trade at $51.38.

The economic calendar for today is fairly light (all times in HK/SIN):

• 12:00 p.m.: Malaysia September CPI
• 4:00 p.m.: Taiwan September export orders
• 4:30 p.m.: Indonesia third-quarter FDI
• 4:30 p.m.: Hong Kong fourth-quarter business confidence