Asian shares rallied on Friday as Wall Street earnings and signs of a thaw in Sino-US relations boosted investor sentiment, while oil prices eased following fresh American sanctions on Russian suppliers.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened up 209 points, or 0.81 percent, at 26,177.

Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.17 percent to 3,929 while the Shenzhen Component Index was 0.51 percent higher at 13,091.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, was up 0.83 percent at 3,087.

Intel results after the close in New York beat expectations, adding to a batch of positive US earnings reports. Japan's Nikkei share gauge jumped before a speech where the nation's new prime minister is expected to talk about stimulus measures.

Crude futures trimmed a weekly advance spurred by new US curbs on Russia's two biggest oil companies.

As the US government shutdown blots out most economic data, the spotlight is on Friday's consumer price figures for signals about next week's policy meeting at the Federal Reserve.

Sentiment was buoyed after the White House confirmed presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump will meet next week during a tour through Asia as a tariff deadline looms.

"The announcement signals confidence that trade talks to be held in Malaysia between high-level delegates in the coming days are likely to yield positive results," Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda wrote about the White House statement.

"It's unlikely either side would set their leader up for an awkward failure."

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.5 percent in early trade. Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 1.2 percent.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, added 0.1 percent to 99. The euro edged down 0.1 percent to US$1.161, and the yen weakened 0.2 percent to 152.85 versus the dollar.

Trump departs for Malaysia late on Friday and will also visit Japan and South Korea, where he will meet Xi next Thursday. Trade tension between Washington and Beijing has been escalating, and a meeting between the two leaders would come just before a November 1 deadline for an additional 100 percent US tariff to be imposed on Chinese imports.

On the US calendar, Friday's core consumer price index print, a key input for Fed policy, is widely expected to hold steady at 3.1 percent. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said last week it would publish the report despite the government shutdown – now in its 23rd day – to assist the Social Security Administration with its annual cost-of-living adjustment.

In Japan, core consumer prices rose 2.9 percent year on year in September, data showed on Friday, staying above the central bank's 2 – target and keeping alive market expectations of a near-term interest rate hike.

Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will deliver a highly anticipated speech in the afternoon as her government reportedly mulls a sizeable spending package. (Reuters/Xinhua)