This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed as Japan's third-quarter GDP was revised downward in a surprise move, while India's central bank held its benchmark lending rate steady.
Japan's third-quarter GDP was revised downward to a 0.7% fall quarter-on-quarter, a sharper slide compared with the 0.5% decline estimated earlier. Economists had forecast that the revised figure would be unchanged at 0.5%
The Reserve Bank of India held its repo rate at 6.5%, in line with a Reuters poll of 64 economists that unanimously forecast the bank would keep its benchmark policy rate steady.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% and ended at 7,194.9, reversing earlier losses.
Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.68% after the GDP data to end at 32,307.86, its lowest level in a month, while the Topix fell 1.5% to 2,324.47.
South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.03% to finish at 2,517.85 while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 2.11% to 830.37.
Money Report
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index erased earlier gains to trade marginally below the flatline in its final hour, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 gained 0.24%, rebounding off a four year low and ending at 3,399.46.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes gained ground as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 broke three-day losing streaks, ahead of Friday's all-important jobs report.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.8%, while the blue-chip Dow added 0.17%. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.37% as technology stocks outperformed.
Google-parent Alphabet gained more than 5% as traders cheered the company's launch of its Gemini artificial intelligence model. Nvidia and AMD also added more than 2% and 9%, respectively.
— CNBC's Pia Singh and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
Nvidia in talks with Malaysian developer YTL on data center deal
Chip giant Nvidia is in talks with Malaysian infrastructure developer YTL on a data center deal, Reuters reported Friday.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters said the potential tie-up would include collaborating on cloud infrastructure, and was likely to be in the state of Johor, bordering Singapore.
This move is intended to provide businesses in Southeast Asia access to Nvidia's AI chips via cloud computing .
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is visiting Malaysia, after having made a stop in Singapore and announcing that the company would "potentially announce some large investments" in the city-state.
— Reuters
India's central bank holds rates steady for fourth straight meeting
India's central bank has held its key lending rate at 6.5%, the fourth straight time that it has left the repurchase rate unchanged.
Reuters reported that all six members of the RBI's monetary policy committee unanimously voted to hold the repo rate.
This comes as inflation in the country has slowed for three straight months, coming in at a four-month low of 4.87% in October. Since May 2022, the RBI has raised the repo rate by a total of 250 basis points.
— Lim Hui Jie
Japan's third-quarter GDP numbers revised downward in surprise move
Japan's third-quarter gross domestic numbers have been revised downward in a move at odds with economists' expectations.
The world's third-largest economy shrank by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter, a steeper-than-expected decline compared with expectations of a 0.5% contraction as per the first estimate as well a Reuters poll.
On an annualized basis, GDP shrank by 2.9% in the third quarter, faster than the first estimate of 2.1% and economists' expectations of 2%.
— Lim Hui Jie
Japan real wages fall for 19th straight month in October
Real wages in Japan have fallen for a 19th straight month, sliding 2.3% year-on-year in October.
While the drop was softer than the revised 2.9% fall seen in September, the decline in real wages will be something that may prevent the Bank of Japan from moving away from negative interest rates.
The BOJ has said that sustainable pay increases are a key metric to consider before dismantling its ultra-loose monetary policy.
— Lim Hui Jie
CNBC Pro: Forget the automakers: Fund manager picks 2 longer-term plays to cash in on EVs
EV automakers like Tesla, BYD and BMW have garnered a lot of attention from investors this year.
However, one investment analyst says a better way to play the electric vehicle theme is to invest in the wider ecosystem.
"We like autos but the problem with pure EV companies is there's few that's profitable and cashflow generative at the moment," Steven Glass, managing director and investment analyst at the Australia-headquartered Pella Funds told CNBC Pro, referencing Tesla as one such company.
He named two alternative EV-rated stocks that are on his radar.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Amala Balakrishner
CNBC Pro: These global stocks may be overbought, but analysts still like them — giving one nearly 40% upside
U.S. stocks aren't they only ones doing well — global markets have also rallied in the past month.
CNBC Pro screened the S&P 500, the MSCI World and the Vanguard FTSE-All World ex-U.S. indexes for stocks that are among the most overbought, based on their 14-day RSI.
Stocks with a 14-day RSI higher than 70 are likely overbought — and may be due for a pullback.
These stocks have also been screened to include analyst buy ratings of more than 50%, and with potential price target upside of more than 20%.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
Investors should expect a recession in 2024, Citi says
Many are anticipating a "goldilocks" scenario in 2024, but Citi said it's not as optimistic. The Wall Street firm expects a recession will start in the second quarter of next year.
"Early signs suggest that the rapid rise in policy rates over the last two years – and need to hold them there to bring down inflation – will lead to a recession next year," Andrew Hollenhorst wrote in a Wednesday note.
"Even factoring in a recession, core inflation is likely to remain 'sticky' above the 2% target for all of 2024. In our base case the Fed cuts rates 100bp next year, starting in July," he added.
— Sarah Min, Michael Bloom
U.S. crude closes below $70 for second day
U.S. crude declined slightly on Thursday, closing below $70 a barrel for the second day in a row.
The West Texas Intermediate contract for January fell 4 cents, or .06%, to settle at $69.34 a barrel. The Brent contract for February lost 25 cents, or .34%, to settle at $74.05 a barrel.
WTI shed 4% on Wednesday, closing below $70 for the first time since late June.
Oil traders are increasingly bearish with record U.S. production and a weakening economy in China. The OPEC+ production cuts announced for the first quarter have not been able to move the needle so far.
— Spencer Kimball
Dollar hits lowest level against yen since September
The U.S. dollar hit a low of 144.53 against the yen on Thursday, its lowest level since Sept. 1. During that session, the dollar traded as low as 144.43.
The dollar is down 1.7% against the yen, on pace for its worst daily loss against the Japanese currency since Jan. 12, 2023, when the dollar fell 2.45% against the yen.
—Gina Francolla, Michelle Fox
Alphabet shares rally 5% after launching latest AI model
Google-parent Alphabet rallied more than 5%, a day after the company launched what it views as its largest and "most capable" artificial intelligence model known as Gemini.
The model, slated to come in three different sizes, will power products such as its Bard chatbot.
The jump in Alphabet shares boosted the Nasdaq Composite, last up more than 1%. Advanced Micro Devices was the biggest winner in the concentrated Nasdaq-100, jumping more than 6% after unveiling in AI chip competitor to Nvidia.
— Samantha Subin