Asian markets rally on Friday; North Korea’s rocket launch fails

Stocks across the Asia-pacific region rallied on last trading day of the week following overnight firm trend in US market on optimism from the Euro zone as Lower Italian bond yields eased some concerns about the region. Moreover, the investors’ sentiment also got boost from the news that North Korea confirmed the failure of its controversial rocket launch. However, the gains remained capped by weaker than expected Chinese economic data. The annual rate of China's gross domestic product expansion eased to 8.1 percent in the first quarter from 8.9 percent in the previous quarter, data showed, below 8.3 percent forecast and the weakest pace in nearly three years.

Meanwhile, South Korea shares snapped a three-day losing streak and the benchmark index regained the psychologically important 2,000-point level as investors brushed off weaker-than-expected Chinese growth figures as concerns about North Korea’s rocket launch got eased after the failure of rocket launch. Moreover, Taiwan stocks ended up 1.64 percent at a near two-week high after the government revealed its plan to levy a capital gains tax on shares and futures trading, removing uncertainty that had spooked investors’ sentiment.