Japanese stocks traded higher on Friday, shrugging off weak trading on Wall Street.

With investors mulling the possibility of US Federal Reserve raising interest rates as early as June, US markets fell fallen again on Thursday.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.5% at 16,736.35.

Shares in exporters were lifted after the dollar remained stronger against the yen. Toyota rose 1.2% while Nissan was 0.9% higher.

Investors are watching the G7 meeting in Japan starting on Friday, in which currencies is expected to be a topic.

In China, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1% to 19,895.16 while the mainland’s benchmark Shanghai Composite was 0.3% higher at 2,816.57.

In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi index closed flat at 1,947.67.

Australia’s ASX/200 index climbed 0.6% to finish the day at 5,357.10. Shares in commodity giant BHP Billiton rose 1%, while Rio Tinto closed more than 2% higher.