Asian Stocks Surge on Waller's Dovish Stance

Asian stocks rallied on Friday, led by semiconductor and technology names, after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller signaled that the central bank may hold off on raising interest rates at its policy meeting later this month.

Waller's comments were echoed earlier in the week by New York Fed President John Williams, who also expressed a dovish stance. According to CME FedWatch, the probability of a rate increase fell to roughly 50% from 63% earlier.

The rally followed a strong session on Wall Street, where all three major benchmarks gained more than 1%. South Korea's KOSPI was the standout performer, surging 1.64% to close at 6,687.21, its biggest single-day gain since August 20.

However, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 bucked the trend, edging down 0.2%. The index posted its steepest weekly decline since August 10, dragged lower by weakness in mining and energy shares that offset gains in the financial sector.