South Korea's Kospi rose 1.8% to 5,879.71 points. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 1.6% to 56,789.58 points. Shares of Fast Retailing, owner of Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo, surged more than 10% after the group raised its profit forecast for this year. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index increased 0.7% to 25,919.12 points, while Shanghai's composite index was 0.6% higher at 3,991.14 points. On Friday, China announced that its consumer price index—the main inflation indicator—rose 1% year-on-year in March, below analysts' expectations and lower than February's 1.3% increase. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%. Taiwan's Taiex rose 1.3%, while India's Sensex gained 0.7%. Talks between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on a potential permanent ceasefire in the Iran war are set to begin on Saturday, with the U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance. However, ahead of the negotiations, deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday raised questions about whether the two-week ceasefire in the Iran war remains in effect, as the Islamic Republic continues to control the Strait of Hormuz, largely closed despite U.S. demands to reopen this key maritime route for global oil and gas transportation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he approved talks with Lebanon, with negotiations expected next week in Washington. Oil prices edged higher on Friday. Brent, the international benchmark, rose 0.5% to $96.42 per barrel. The U.S. benchmark crude increased 0.4% to $98.28 per barrel. Regarding oil prices, "the $65–70 per barrel range is not coming back," wrote Barclays' Ajay Rajadhyaksha in a recent research bulletin, alluding to pre-Iran war price levels. The bank predicts Brent could average around $85 per barrel this year. "A ceasefire is not a refund. Ceasefires end wars; they do not undo them," he noted. On Thursday, Wall Street rallied on hopes for a ceasefire in the Iran war. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 6,824.66 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.6% to 48,185.80 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8% to 22,822.42 points. Shares of Constellation Brands, which sells Modelo and Corona beers in the U.S., surged 8.5% after better-than-expected quarterly results. Cloud services provider CoreWeave rose 3.5% after announcing an extended contract with Meta Platforms through 2032. Meta gained 2.6%. In other trading, gold and silver prices fell. Gold declined 0.5% to $4,791.90 per ounce, while silver weakened 0.6% to $76.02 per ounce. The U.S. dollar strengthened to 159.18 Japanese yen from 158.96 yen. The euro traded at $1.1694, compared with $1.1699 earlier.