05:41 AM EST, 01/09/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely finished higher Friday, after price reports from Beijing indicated deflation may be waning, and as China officials hinted that export curbs to Japan may be tabled.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 1.6% on earnings reports and after Beijing signaled it may not cut off rare-earth shipments to Japan, over disagreements regarding Taiwan.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 822.63 to 51,939.89, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 168 to 54.

Leading the upside was clothing chain Fast Retailing, up 10.7% after reporting quarterly results, while retail conglomerate Aeon declined 7.7%, also after disclosing earnings.

In economic news, boosted by outlays in communication and housing, real household spending in Japan rose 2.9% on year in November, swinging from 3% on-year drop in October, reported the Statistics Bureau.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and held ground, finishing up 0.3% as traders weighed official China inflation reports that pointed to firming mainland prices.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 82.48 to 26,231.79, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 50 to 37. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.2% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.1%.

Leading the upside was Alibaba Health Information Technology, gaining 4.7%, while Xinyi Solar declined 3.7%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.9% to 4,120.43.

In economic news, China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.8% on year, edging up further from deflation, reported the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

However, China's producer price index (PPI) fell 1.9% on-year, tightening a bit from the 2.2% on-year decline recorded in November, but again underlining concerns that the nation's huge economy is still pressured by soggy property and consumer markets.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.8%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.2%; the Australian ASX 200 was flat; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.1%, and the Thai Set was stable. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.7%.

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