As a rollercoaster week drew to a close, debate centred on the Federal Reserve's plans for interest rates when it meets in less than a fortnight, with most observers expecting a 25-basis-point cut.

The sight of investors running to the hills sparked memories of the brief but tumultuous sell-off at the start of August that was partly fuelled by a big miss on US jobs creation.

With the much-hyped earnings report from bellwether chip titan Nvidia now in the rearview mirror, traders are once again able to concentrate on economic matters and the Federal Reserve's plans for interest rate cuts.

While a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next month is baked into prices, traders are also keenly awaiting next week's crucial non-farm payrolls figures, which are seen as key to determining how big the central bank goes.

Traders were also keeping an eye on developments in the Middle East after a flare-up in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that fanned fears of an escalation in the region.

The yen also advanced after the head of Japan's central bank told lawmakers that officials could hike interest rates again if the economy and inflation perform as expected, weeks after a surprise increase caused turmoil on markets.

Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Mumbai, Bangkok and Manila rose Thursday, though Shanghai, Wellington, Jakarta and Taipei slipped.

Tokyo's Nikkei returned from a long weekend to lead the rally and top the levels touched before last Monday's rout -- its worst since 1987 -- helped by a weaker yen and a Bank of Japan pledge not to hike interest rates further.

After a painful collapse fuelled by a big miss on US jobs creation, equities managed to bounce back over the following days and ended Friday on a healthy note.

Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Mumbai, Taipei and Jakarta were in the red, along with London, Paris and Frankfurt.

The upbeat mood comes at the start of a busy week for traders, with the central banks of the United States and Japan making policy decisions, a key US jobs report due on Friday and megacaps releasing their earnings.

Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential election race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris had little major impact on sentiment, analysts said, though there is much debate about who she chooses as her running mate.

The European Central Bank is keeping options "wide open" for September, president Christine Lagarde said, after holding interest rates steady Thursday in the wait for more evidence that inflation was on the right track.

A smaller-than-expected read on the June consumer price index ramped up bets on the Federal Reserve lowering borrowing costs in September, and possibly again before January.

The advances tracked another record on Wall Street on a holiday-shortened day, while national elections in Britain and France are also on the radar over the next few days.

After a run of above-forecast data and warnings from central bank officials suggesting monetary policy would remain elevated for some time, the remarks provided fresh optimism that a reduction -- and possibly two -- was on the way before the end of the year.

Asian equity markets advanced following a positive lead from Wall Street, though there is speculation of a possible pull-back on profit-taking and concerns the recent tech-fuelled rally may have run too far.

Goldman Sachs told that to their clients in a note.

The city saw price increases above the national average in May, according to a report by WalletHub

Monthly inflation in economically troubled Argentina came in at 4.2 percent in May, the lowest in two-and-a-half years, mainly due to a drop in consumption, the INDEC statistics agency said Thursday.

A poll by the Associated Industries of Florida showed these concerns topped others like unlawful immigration

Job vacancies fell far more than expected in April, to below 8.1 million, which Briefing.com said was the lowest level since 2021.

News that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index slowed month-on-month to its lowest level since December provided a much-needed boost to investors' sentiment after a recent pull-back.

Policymakers are poised to reduce eurozone borrowing costs by a quarter percentage point on Thursday, taking the key deposit rate to 3.75 percent from its current record level.

The losses in equities extended a more than week-long sell-off that came on the back of forecast-beating data and warnings from Federal Reserve officials that they were in no rush to lower borrowing costs.

The national statistics agency, INDEC, said that economic activity had slowed 8.4 percent year-on-year in March -- the biggest such interannual change since the Covid pandemic.

Republicans and independent voters are more likely to believe this, the survey shows

The 3.4% clip in April consumer prices was in line with forecasts but down from March and capped a run of three straight months above estimates that forced investors to reel in their rate cut hopes.

There was also some nervousness on trading floors after Beijing hit out at Washington's decision to impose steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports such as electric vehicles and semiconductors.

For months, the US central bank has maintained its benchmark lending rate at a 23-year high to cool demand and rein in price increases -- with a slowdown in inflation last year fueling optimism that the first cuts were on the horizon.