Asian markets looked poised to climb on Friday after stocks in Europe and the U.S. rose in the previous session. Clues from the European Central Bank on Thursday on its bond-buying program also led to major moves in currency markets overnight.

Futures pointed to gains for Australia and Japan: Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were up 0.6 percent compared to the benchmark’s last close and Australian SPI futures were 0.55 percent higher at the end of the previous session.

Markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore will be closed on Friday.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday amid a flurry of dealmaking news, with the Nasdaq composite rising 0.85 percent to notch a record close of 7,761.04.

Other major U.S. stock indexes finished the session mixed. The S&P 500 edged up by 0.25 percent to 2,782.49 and the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.1 percent, or 25.89 points, to close at 25,175.31.

The European Central Bank on Thursday indicated plans to wind down its quantitative easing program. The bank said that if incoming data followed its forecasts, its monthly bond purchase program would be extended through to the final quarter of the year, though at a lower pace.

The ECB said its current 30 billion euros in monthly purchases would be halved to 15 billion euros in the last three months of the year. In addition, the central bank indicated that a rate hike would be unlikely before the summer of 2019.

“After recent almost hawkish remarks from ECB Chief Economist Praet, the market was hoping for more and [was] disappointed,” David de Garis, director of economics at National Australia Bank, said in a note.

The euro tanked after the ECB outlined its QE plans, falling to trade at the $1.15 handle from levels above $1.18 seen before the central bank’s announcement. The common currency traded at $1.1582 at 6:52 a.m. HK/SIN.

The dollar, meanwhile, was broadly higher, with the dollar index last at 94.772. Against the yen, the greenback traded at 110.52.

European stocks jumped on Thursday on the back of the ECB’s announcement, with the pan-European s rising 1.4 percent. France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX ended the session up more than 1 percent.

On the energy front, Brent crude futures dropped 80 cents to settle at $75.94 per barrel amid the stronger dollar. U.S. West Texas intermediate crude added 25 cents to settle at $66.89.

Here’s the economic calendar for Friday (all times in HK/SIN):

• 9:30 a.m.: China house price index
• The Bank of Japan is also expected to announce its monetary policy decision later in the day, although markets are not expecting policy changes

— CNBC’s Silvia Amaro contributed to this report.