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Asian shares traded higher on Friday following a rally on Wall Street that brought the S&P 500 close to its record. Benchmarks in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and China all rose, with investors in China focused on the release of April inflation figures. Japan reported a record current account surplus for the fiscal year through March, but weak consumer spending undermined the positive data. In the U.S., a report showing a pickup in layoffs helped support the market, while Treasury yields have been easing since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank remains closer to cutting its main interest rate than hiking it. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose to $79.86 a barrel, and in currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 155.53 Japanese yen. The euro fell to $1.0776 from $1.0782.
