“Everyone is sprinting toward the same conclusion: the Fed will deliver holiday cheer,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.2% higher to 50,253.91, rebounding from losses earlier in the day. Data showed Japan's housing starts rose 3.2% in October from the same period a year ago, the first annual increase since March. The number defied market expectations of 5.2% decline and reversed a 7.3% drop in September.
Government data also showed Tokyo’s year-on-year core inflation in November remained at 2.8%, unchanged from October and above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target. That reinforces expectations of a gradual shift by the central bank to higher interest rates, although a rate hike is not expected at the Bank of Japan's December meeting.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.5% to 3,926.59 after the country’s industrial production fell 4% month-on-month in October, more than the 1.1% decline in September. Semiconductor production plunged 26.5% month-on-month, pushing down tech stocks like LG Energy Solutions, SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics.
In Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.2% to 25,885.82. The Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.3% to 3,888.60.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell less than 0.1% to 8,614.10, while Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.3%. India's BSE Sensex was up 0.1%.
Shares in Europe advanced Thursday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
On Wednesday, before the trading holiday in the U.S., stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street. The S&P 500 gaining 0.7% and the Dow up 0.7%. The Nasdaq composite added 0.8%.
Early Friday, Brent crude, the international standard, was up 15 cents at $63.02 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 156.35 Japanese yen from 156.31 yen. The euro fell to $1.1583 from $1.1596.