Asia-Pacific markets open higher as investors assess U.S.-Iran peace deal diplomacy

Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Friday as investors assess U.S.-Iran diplomatic efforts at reaching a peace deal in the Middle East.

While oil prices fell in U.S. trading on hopes of a deal, reports that Tehran intends to keep its enriched uranium stockpile within the country stand to complicate negotiations with Washington as President Donald Trump has made dismantling Iran's nuclear program a central objective of his military action against Tehran.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.36%, while the Topix added 0.55%. Japan's core inflation eased more than expected in April to its lowest level since March 2022, weakening the case for an early rate hike by the Bank of Japan.

Core inflation — which strips out prices of fresh food — came in at 1.4%, lower than the 1.7% expected by economists polled by Reuters and below the 1.8% reading in March.

South Korea's Kospi was up 0.52%, while the Kosdaq Index jumped over 3%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.5%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were last at 25,568, higher than the index's last close of 25,386.52.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a record close. The blue-chip index gained 276.31 points, or 0.55%, for a closing record of 50,285.66. The S&P 500 advanced 0.17% to 7,445.72, while the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.09% to end at 26,293.10.

— CNBC's Sean Conlon and Alex Harring contributed to this report