Japan's Nikkei approaches all-time high; Hong Kong leads gains in Asia

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

Hong Kong markets led gains in Asia on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 hitting a fresh 34-year high as it attempted to scale its all-time peak.

At its intraday high of 38,863.69, Nikkei was less than 100 points from scaling its record high.

The index gave up its earlier gains to end 0.86% higher at 38,487.24, a day after the country lost its spot as the third-largest global economy to Germany and reported a technical recession.

The economic slowdown in Japan has raised hopes it may stick with its ultra-loose monetary policy for longer, even as the country's finance minister has reportedly raised concerns on yen's weakness.

Other Asia-Pacific markets rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains, with the S&P 500 notching a fresh record high.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 2.41%, while mainland Chinese markets remain closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.69% to close at 7,658.3, while South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.27% to end at 2,624.73.

Investors also await Singapore 2024 budget, slated to be released later in the day.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes ended trading session in positive territory, after clawing back the steep losses suffered earlier in the week.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.58%, settling at 5,029.73 to close at a new record high, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.30% to close at 15,906.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 348.85 points higher, or 0.91%, to end at 38,773.12.

— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.

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