Asian markets were mostly higher in early Friday trade, tracking moderate gains made on Wall Street as investors stateside considered the effects of lower corporate taxes.

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Japan's Nikkei 225 hovered around the flat line, with automakers declining slightly in morning trade. Toyota lost 0.6 percent and Honda was lower by 0.67 percent.

Share of Kobe Steel fell 1.32 percent after it acknowledged that three senior executives knew about data falsification taking place at the company, Reuters said. The steelmaker, currently embroiled in a scandal involving tampering with product specifications, said its investigation into the matter would be completed near the end of February, Reuters added.

Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi tacked on 0.17 percent as blue chips that had fallen in the last session clawed back gains. Samsung Electronics was up 0.77 percent and Hyundai Motor rose 1.33 percent.

So-called THAAD-linked stocks that have been sensitive to developments in ties between China and South Korea extended losses. Lotte Shopping declined 1.31 percent, Hotel Shilla tumbled 2.96 percent and AmorePacific lost 3.66 percent.

Meanwhile, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up by 0.36 percent on strength in the resources sectors. Major miners and oil-related plays rose in morning trade: Rio Tinto crept higher by 0.18 percent, Santos rose 1.14 percent and Mount Gibson Iron added 2.22 percent.

Commodities prices had risen overnight on positive market sentiment. "The continued improvement in market sentiment should see

U.S. stocks gain on tax optimism

Several major U.S. corporations revealed details on how they would spend savings that a recently passed tax bill, which will reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, would bring about. Among those spending measures were wage increases and employee bonuses.

Meanwhile, the Senate passed a stop-gap spending bill that would help to avoid a government shutdown. The House of Representatives approved the bill earlier on Thursday. The passage of the funding bill by the Senate now allows for President Donald Trump to sign both the Republicans' tax bill and the government funding bill as early as Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 55.64 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 24,782.29, with other indexes recording similarly moderate gains.

Markets were also supported by robust U.S. growth data, which showed the U.S. economy grew 3.2 percent in the third quarter. That was a slight downward revision compared to the 3.3 percent reported in November, but remained the fastest rate of growth seen in longer than two years, Reuters said.

Elsewhere, the euro slid against the dollar after results from Catalonia's regional election pointed to a win for pro-independence parties. The election had been called after Spain's government sacked the regional parliament when the latter declared its independence in October.

Pro-independence parties are set to win a majority of the seats in the assembly, with 96 percent of votes tallied so far, Reuters reported. The common currency traded at $1.1841 at 8:27 a.m. HK/SIN, compared to levels around $1.1875 seen on Thursday.

In currencies, the dollar edged up against a basket of currencies, with the dollar index at 93.423 at 8:24 a.m. HK/SIN, above Thursday's close of 93.297. The greenback was steady against the yen, fetching 113.31 yen after climbing as high as 113.63 in the previous session.

The Canadian dollar was steady after rising to its highest levels in more than two weeks following the release of better-than-expected inflation and retail sales numbers. The loonie traded at $1.2741 to the dollar after touching a high of $1.2696 overnight.