Asian stock markets mostly rose on Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street as a global semiconductor rally and renewed AI optimism lifted sentiment. Japan's Nikkei gained 4.15% to around 65,000 after the Bank of Japan held its benchmark rate steady at 1.0%, its highest since 1995, while the yen surged as much as 3.3% to around 158 per dollar before pulling back. South Korea's KOSPI soared more than 15% to around 6,450, rebounding sharply as June retail sales grew 2.7% month-over-month. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.87% to 3,843 and the Shenzhen Component surged nearly 4% to 13,810, led by semiconductor and AI stocks, even as business activity unexpectedly contracted across both manufacturing and services in July. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.33% to 25,750 on profit-taking, while India's Sensex edged up 0.14% to 77,948 and Australia's ASX 200 added 0.11% to 9,001.