This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Hong Kong led Asia-Pacific stocks higher on Friday as markets tracked Wall Street gains, with renewed hopes for rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve bolstering market sentiment.

The Hang Seng index hit its highest level in 10 months, up 2.32% after Bloomberg reported regulators were considering a proposal to exempt individual investors from paying taxes on dividends earned from Hong Kong stocks bought via Stock Connect.

Mainland China's CSI 300 marginally rose to hit its highest level since October 2023, ending at 3,666.27.

Meanwhile, Japan's overall household spending in March fell 1.2% year on year, less than the 2.4% expected by a Reuters poll of economists. However, on a month-on-month basis, household spending rose 1.2%, compared with estimates of a 0.3% drop.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.41% to end at 38,229.11, while the broad-based Topix gained 0.54% to close at 2,728.21.

South Korea's Kospi closed 0.57% higher at 2,727.63, but the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.69%, ending at 864.16.

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 ended up 0.35% at 7,749.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes climbed as fresh weekly jobless claims data came in at the highest level since August, raising expectations that central bankers might cut interest rates at some point this year.

The 30-stock Dow jumped 0.85% to notch its longest win streak since a nine-day run in December. The S&P 500 added 0.51%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.27%.

— CNBC's Brian Evans and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.

Interest rates in India could stay 'higher for longer,' State Bank of India chairman says

India's interest rates are likely to stay "higher for longer" and the status quo could remain for "some time to go," according to State Bank of India Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara.

The Reserve Bank of India is unlikely to follow the timeline of other central banks, he said.

"India's central bank will probably decouple from the rest of the central banks," Khara told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Friday, explaining that inflation in the country had dipped below 5%.

In April, the RBI held its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6.5% for its seventh meeting in a row.

— Charmaine Jacob

OCBC posts record first-quarter revenue and profit; offers to take insurance subsidiary private

Singapore's second-largest bank OCBC posted record first-quarter revenue and profit, with total income rising 8% year on year to 3.63 billion Singapore dollars ($2.68 billion) and net profit climbing 5% year on year to SG$1.98 billion.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, revenue rose 11%, while net profit surged 22%. OCBC cited a "robust performance across all segments," highlighting that its banking operations profit was at a record high, supported by higher wealth management income and assets under management.

Separately, OCBC also offered SG$1.4 billion to privatize its insurance subsidiary Great Eastern.

The company will buy the 11.56% stake in the insurer that it does not currently own at SG$25.60 per share, representing a 36.9% premium over Great Eastern's last traded price of SG$18.70.

— Lim Hui Jie

HSBC says Xiaomi could break even on its EV sooner than expected

HSBC said it now expects Xiaomi to break even on its recently launched electric vehicle, the SU7, sooner than previously projected.

The bank predicted the EV will hit 685 million Chinese yuan ($94.8 million) in net profit by the end of 2026, versus its prior expectation of about 810 million yuan by 2028.

HSBC is bullish on Xiaomi's EV shipments over the next two years, citing the company's higher-than-expected order backlog of over 88,000 units and strong deliveries of over 7,000 units, as of April 30.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi launched its SU7 EV just ahead of the Easter holiday this year.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

CNBC Pro: An Nvidia partner and more: Morgan Stanley names tech stocks set for a boost from Arm-based PC chips

The global semiconductor industry is set for a "transformation" — thanks to artificial intelligence PCs loaded with chips developed by British chip designer Arm, according to Morgan Stanley.

That's because more powerful PCs are needed to run AI applications.

Arm-based central processing units are known for energy conservation and thermal control, which lead to longer battery life and more compact designs, Morgan Stanley noted, adding that they "exhibit a notable edge in power efficiency."

The bank therefore expects Arm-based AI PCs to "start a transformation that will affect the global semis industry."

What stocks will benefit from Arm's foray into AI PCs?

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Japan clocks record current account surplus for fiscal year 2023/24

Japan recorded its biggest current account surplus worth 25.3 trillion yen ($162.9 billion) in fiscal year ended March 2024, Reuters reported.

For March, the country logged 3.40 trillion yen current account surplus.

A current account balance reading is a key gauge for international trade.

— Shreyashi Sanyal, Reuters

Japan posts stronger-than-expected March household spending data

Japan's household spending in March declined less than expected at 1.2% in real terms from a year earlier, compared with a 2.4% drop estimated by economists polled by Reuters.

On a month-on-month basis household spending grew 1.2%, compared with a 0.3% drop expected by the Reuters poll.

Japan's statistics bureau said that average monthly consumption expenditures was 318,713 yen ($2,049.23,) up 1.9% in nominal terms.

Average monthly income per household stood at 513,734 yen for March, up 3% in nominal terms but down 0.1% in real terms from the previous year.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Portfolio manager names 3 under-the-radar growth stocks to buy right now

A bumpy few months for mega caps like the "Magnificent Seven" have led some investors to question whether now is the best time to be buying growth stocks.

One investor says growth stocks still offer opportunities — but it's time to get selective.

"Growth stocks will continue to outperform value stocks, generally speaking. But valuations are stretched so we are looking for higher quality names," Adam Coons, portfolio manager at Winthrop Capital Management, told CNBC Pro on May. 1.

Coons named three of his favorite under-the-radar growth stocks to consider.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

UBS anticipates a 'renewed fall' in U.S. inflation

Stocks have come under pressure this quarter after a string of hotter inflation reports spurred investor concerns the Federal Reserve will stay higher for longer, with rate cut expectations coming down to just two for the year starting in September.

However, UBS anticipates upcoming inflation data will start to trend lower, starting with the April's Consumer Price Index (CPI) that's set for release next week. The firm cited recent data indicating moderating housing costs, and lower consumer spending going forward.

"We expect a renewed fall in U.S. inflation in the coming months," UBS' Solita Marcelli wrote on Thursday. "Investors are expecting April's Consumer Price Index (CPI) to show that the trend toward slowing inflation—which was interrupted in the first quarter of the year—is resuming."

"Our view is that inflation will start heading back to the Fed's 2% target in the coming months," Marcelli said.

— Sarah Min

A soft landing is still possible despite 'fits and starts,' Goldman Sachs COO says

A soft landing is still plausible despite some hiccups along the way, according to Goldman Sachs president and COO John Waldron.

"We're still subscribers to, generally speaking, a soft landing scenario," Waldron told CNBC on Thursday.

"I would say soft landing doesn't mean everything is perfect and it lands on a nice soft pillow," he added. "Sometimes you have fits and starts in a soft landing. I think that's what we're seeing right now."

— Brian Evans

Gold mining stocks and their ETF 'particularly attractive' to BTIG's Krinsky

Precious metal mining stocks are presently consolidating "after big runs earlier this year," and ETFs such as the VanEck Gold Miners ETF "look particularly attractive to us here," BTIG's chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky wrote to clients Thursday.

The gold miners' ETF rallied nearly 40% in the short span from early March to mid-April, "breaking out above a one-year base," Krinsky said. "It now looks poised to resume its uptrend with a measured move towards $38-$40." Compared to the S&P 500 in 2024, the GDX ETF is outperforming some 3.5 percentage points, BTIG said.

The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund, comprised of other minerals minerds and chemical makers, among ohers, hasn't performed as well as GDX lately, Krinsky said, although he said individual stocks such as Dow Inc. have "a very constructive [price] chart."

— Scott Schnipper

Weak pizza sales, but doughnuts fly off the shelves

Papa John's is the latest restaurant to report sluggish sales. The pizza chain saw a weaker-than-expected 1.8% same-store-sales decline. That was a contrast to what one of its competitors said a couple weeks ago. A stronger-than-expected 5.6% same-store sales increase from Domino's was an industry outlier thanks to the successful revamp of its loyalty program.

But even as the restaurant industry has widely struggled to start the year, another bright spot surfaced this morning. People are buying up doughnuts. Krispy Kreme saw a nearly 7% jump in organic sales as revenues came in higher than expected. It cited "increased digital sales and strong consumer demand" amid successful event-centric campaigns surrounding the Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day holidays.

— Robert Hum