In the markets today, Asian shares added to a five-session rally on Thursday, while a weak U.S. dollar sent gold to another record peak.

Commodity-linked shares, particularly in Australia, gained. They were helped by higher metal prices and the perception of future Chinese demand for raw materials.

Japanese carmakers surged after Goldman Sachs hiked its ratings on Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru cars, and added Honda to its "buy" list.

South Korean shares edged up, with the nation's central bank keeping interest rates steady—but repeatedly intervening to weaken the won.

Hyosung [hoi SUNG] rallied after it withdrew its bid for a controlling stake in Hynix [HIGH-nix] Semiconductor, the world's number two memory chip maker.