Hong Kong and Indian benchmarks rose for a sixth consecutive day, and resource stocks were generally higher in the wake of the Federal Reserve's pro-growth statements.
Indian and Australian markets opened after national holidays, while markets in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Taipei remained closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Japanese equities were weighed down by weak earnings reports from Nintendo and NEC . The Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.1% to 8841.22 in Tokyo, trimming the week's gain to 0.9%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3% to 20501.67 while South Korea's Kospi firmed 0.4% to 1964.83. The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex rose 0.9% to 17233.98, its highest close since Nov. 9, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.4% to 4288.40 as investors caught up with gains in global markets after the Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday the benchmark U.S. interest rate will likely remain at ultra-low levels until 2014.
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"[There is] a view that you simply can't lose by buying commodity names right now: If the U.S. continues to recover, then commodities appreciate; if the U.S. starts to fall apart, then commodities enjoy the benefit of increased quantitative-easing expectations," said Stan Shamu, strategist at IG Markets.
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- Data: Overview | Treasurys | Forex | Crude
Shares of Newcrest Mining rose 3.8% and Rio Tinto gained 2.1% in Sydney.
Inpex added 2.9% and Sumitomo Metal Mining advanced 2.5% in Tokyo, Korea Zinc rose 0.7%, and in Hong Kong, Zhaojin Mining Industry climbed 1.2%.
In Tokyo, NEC tumbled 7.1% after issuing a poor fiscal-year earnings outlook and Nintendo sank 4.1% after weak results.
Memory-chip maker Elpida Memory skidded 7.1% after the Nikkei reported that the firm is expected to post a ¥90 billion ($1.17 billion) operating loss in the nine months to the end of December.
In Hong Kong, property developers declined after recent gains, with China Overseas Land & Investment dropping 3.4% and Cheung Kong Holdings declining 2.1%.
But banks extended gains amid expectations that 2012 will be a better year for equity markets than 2011, while telecommunication shares climbed after their underperformance so far this month. HSBC Holdings and China Mobile, both heavyweight stocks, rose 0.9% and 1.9%, respectively.
Samsung Electronics rose 1.1% in Seoul after its fourth-quarter net profit rose 17% to four trillion Korean won ($3.57 billion), although the result fell short of analyst expectations.
Shares of Hyundai Motor fell 3.5%, however, after its fourth-quarter results missed some analyst estimates.
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