Asian shares shrug off Greece worries to rise; BOJ eyed

Asian shares surged from the get-go on the final trading day of the week, as the impressive lead from Wall Street helped to sooth market jitters concerning Greece's finances.

Eurogroup finance ministers failed to reach a deal on Thursday and negotiations between debt-stricken Greece and its creditors will continue at a crisis summit next Monday.

Meanwhile, investors were awaiting the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) policy decision. The BOJ concludes its two-day policy meeting on Friday and analysts tell CNBC they are expecting the central bank to maintain its massive asset buying program, which increases the money base at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen ($650 billion).

"The comments from Governor Haruhiko Kuroda indicate that July is off the table in terms of stimulus. BOJ is looking at inflation, which looks a bit stuck in lower gear, but the October timeframe appears to be what they are targeting in terms of additional stimulus," said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments.

Wood was referring to the comments made by Japan's chief central banker last week about the yen's real effective exchange rate being "very low."

Overnight, a dovish statement from the Federal Reserve helped U.S. stocks to finish about 1 percent higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq topping its intra-day high from March 2000.
Nikkei rises 0.7%

Japan's Nikkei 225 hurled itself back above the 20,000 mark, after settling below the key psychological mark for the first time since May 19 in the previous session.

Carmakers were among the top performers in early trade after suffering losses on Thursday on the back of news that Japanese brands fell to below average in the J.D. Power 2015 Initial Quality Study for the first time in 29 years. Nissan and Honda Motor bounced up 2.3 and 1.6 percent, respectively, while Suzuki Motor and Toyota Motor notched up 0.8 and 0.6 percent, respectively.

ASX jumps 1.2%

Australia's S&P ASX 200 index recouped nearly all of Thursday's 1.3 percent slump at the start of trade, thanks to stellar gains in the resources sector.

Following a nearly 1 percent rise in crude oil prices overnight, Santos and Woodside Petroleum charged up 1.6 percent each. Iron ore prices holding firm at $60.90 a tonne also delivered cheer to the miners, with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto opening up 1.2 percent each.

Shares of News Corp elevated 2 percent, seemingly unaffected by news that it will be carrying out a major reorganization at its Dow Jones news publishing unit.

Kospi adds 0.2%

South Korea's key Kospi index was on course for a three-day winning streak.

Gainers were led by brokerages and oil-related counters; Daewoo Securities outperformed the sector with a 4.9 percent rally, while Mirae Asset Securities and Hyundai Securities jumped 3 percent each.

SK Innovation and S-Oil advanced 1.2 and 1 percent, respectively, on the back of firmer energy prices overnight