A string of upbeat data from the United States and a rally on Wall Street boosted Asian markets on Friday, while growing confidence in the global outlook kept the safe-haven yen under pressure.
The latest statistics from Washington follow data out of Asia earlier Thursday that showed manufacturing slowly picking up, with China seeming to have come to the end of its recent malaise.
Tokyo was helped by a weaker yen, jumping 1.17 percent, or 104.35 points, to 9,051.22, while Sydney was flat, adding 2.5 points to 4,460.1 and Seoul climbed 1.07 percent, or 20.28 points, to 1,918.72.
Hong Kong climbed 1.33 percent, or 289.46 points, to 22,11.33 and Shanghai closed up 0.60 percent, or 12.62 points, at 2,117.05.
Wall Street's three main indexes saw healthy gains on Thursday, their second day back after a two-day closure caused by superstorm Sandy, thanks to a bright batch of indicators that suggest the economy is gaining strength.
The US Conference Board index of consumer confidence for October rose to a better-than-forecast 72.2 in October, from a revised 68.4 in September, pointing to a pick-up in the crucial manufacturing sector.
Also, the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims continued their decline, falling a modest 9,000 to 363,000 last week -- below the four-week moving trend of 367,250.
That provided hopes for closely-watched non-farm payrolls results due out of Washington later Friday, with expectations for another rise in job creation.
And the auto industry said sales continued to climb in October, even as Hurricane Sandy curbed sales on the heavily populated northeastern coast in the last three days of the month.
Meanwhile the Institute for Supply Management said its purchasing managers index (PMI) for the industrial sector rose to 51.7 from September's 51.5 reading.
Anything above 50 points to growth while anything below is a contraction.
The news sent US stocks higher. The Dow finished 1.04 percent up, the S&P 500 rose 1.09 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.44 percent.
The manufacturing figures followed a similar trend in China, where the official PMI swung back above 50 for the first time in three months, while a separate one by HSBC also showed an improvement, raising hopes for the world's number two economy.
There were also signs of life in PMIs from India, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea.
With confidence on the up, dealers moved out of the safe haven yen on currency markets.
In European trade, the euro bought 103.45 yen, up from 103.69 yen in New York late Thursday, while it was at $1.2877 from $1.2940.
The dollar rose to 80.25 yen against 80.13 yen.
However, despite the improved economic numbers traders remained concerned about a flurry of downbeat corporate results, with Japan's Panasonic and Sharp warning of huge losses for this fiscal year.
And in Europe, the International Monetary Fund warned that negotiations between Greece and international lenders for desperately-needed rescue funds are stuck, stoking new concerns over Athens' future in the eurozone.
Oil prices were lower. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, shed 85 cents to $86.24 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for December delivery slid 50 cents to $107.67.
Gold was at $1,708.90 at 1050 GMT compared with $1,723.19 late Thursday.
In other markets:
-- Singapore closed up 0.47 percent, or 14.14 points, at 3,040.75.
City Developments gained 1.22 percent to Sg$11.59 and DBS Group added 0.15 percent to Sg$13.82.
-- Taipei added 0.43 percent, or 30.83 points, to 7,210.47.
TSMC rose 0.78 percent to Tw$89.9 while Hon Hai Precision fell 1.34 percent to Tw$88.6.
-- Wellington closed 0.45 percent, or 17.81 points, lower at 3,914.08.
Contact Energy ended down 2.4 percent at NZ$5.30, Auckland Airport lost 1.5 percent to NZ$2.64 and Chorus eased 0.9 percent to NZ$3.32 but Fletcher Building was up 0.87 percent at NZ$6.99.
-- Kuala Lumpur eased 1.17 percent, or 19.56 points, to 1,656.13.
British American Tobacco shed 3.1 percent to 61.02 ringgit, KFC Holdings lost 0.3 percent to 3.91 ringgit and Axiata fell 4.9 percent to 6.16 ringgit. Gaming firm Genting gained 1.5 percent to 9.03 ringgit while UEM Land added 0.5 percent to 2.12 ringgit.
-- Jakarta was flat, edging up 3.53 points to 4,338.89.
-- Bangkok stocks rose 0.66 percent or 8.61 points to 1,306.60.
Banpu lost 0.26 percent to 390.00 baht, but PTT Plc added 0.31 percent to 319.00 baht.
-- Mumbai rose 1.04 percent, or 193.75 points, to 18,755.45.
Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro rose 2.68 percent to 1,674.9 rupees while private ICICI Bank rose 2.12 percent to 1,079.2.
-- Manila was closed for a public holiday.