Asian stocks climb after Wall Street rebound led by Big Tech

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Friday after Wall Street put the brakes on a three-day losing streak with a broad stock market rally powered by Big Tech companies and banks.

Shares in big semiconductor manufacturers led the advance in Asia, where almost all markets opened higher.

Japan's Nikkei 225 added 2.3% to 28,084.47 and the Kospi in Seoul picked up 1% to 3,153.32, lifted by gains for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which gained 2.3% and 1.3% after announcing plans to expand their investments in chip production and development.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced 1% to 27,993.06. The Shanghai Composite index gained 1.7% to 3,486.50 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.5% higher at 7,014.20.

Shares fell 2.9% in Singapore, which has discovered fresh outbreaks of coronavirus, potentially jeopardizing plans to establish a travel “bubble" with Hong Kong.

Bitcoin added 1.2% to $48,930.00. Its price plunged 10% earlier this week after Tesla CEO Elon Musk reversed his earlier position on the digital currency and said the electric car maker would no longer accept it as payment.

Markets rallied as prices of key commodities such as copper, zinc and aluminum slipped, alleviating concerns over inflation that triggered sell-offs earlier in the week.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 notched a 1.2% gain, clawing back almost half of its loss from a day earlier, when it had its biggest one-day drop since February. Even so, the benchmark index is on track for a 2.8% weekly decline, which would be its largest since January. The other major indexes were also on pace for sharp weekly declines, despite recouping some of their losses.

Technology stocks led the gainers after sinking earlier in the week as investors fretted about signs of rising inflation. Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Google's...