Asia markets mostly rise on data-heavy day

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose on Friday as investors parsed data from major economies across the region.

Japan’s industrial output figures showed a surprise 0.1% fall in April from the previous month, against a Reuters poll forecast for a 0.9% rise.

Another dataset showed core inflation in Japan’s capital Tokyo rose 1.9% in May, in line with Reuters poll expectations.

South Korea’s industrial production index rose 2.2% month-on-month in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, beating a Reuters poll expectation of a 1.1% rise.

Data from China showed its manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in May, with the official purchasing managers index coming in at 49.5, from 50.4 in April.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 index reversed earlier gains to end 0.4% lower at 3,579.92, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index erased gains to trade 0.2% lower.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.14% to close 38,487.9, while the broader Topix index gained 1.7% to end at 2,772.49.

South Korea’s Kospi ended flat at 2,636.52, while the smaller-cap Kosdaq closed 0.96% lower at 839.98.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.96% to close at 7,701.7.

Overnight, Wall Street’s main indexes closed lower as investors looked ahead to the release of key U.S. inflation data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 330.06 points, or 0.86%. The S&P 500 lost 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.08%.

The latest reading for the personal consumption expenditures price index will be released Friday, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge for inflation, and is expected to show prices in April running at a 2.7% annual rate, according to Dow Jones estimates.

— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.