This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slid as much as 2.4% on Friday after the Bank of Japan adjusted its stance on its yield curve control policy. The benchmark index ended the day 0.4% down at 32,759.23 while the Topix saw a smaller loss of 0.2%, closing at 2,290.61.

The BOJ also held its benchmark policy rate at -0.1%, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters.

Japan's central bank said that it will continue to allow 10-year government bond yields to fluctuate in the range of around plus and minus 0.5%.

However, it will "conduct yield curve control with greater flexibility, regarding the upper and lower bounds the range as references, not as rigid limits, in its market operations."

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7% to end at 7,403,6 as the country's retail sales fell 0.8% year on year in June, lower than expectations in a Reuters poll that the retail sales figure will remain unchanged from a year ago.

South Korea's markets were in positive territory, with the Kospi higher by 0.17% to close at 2,608.32 and the Kosdaq up 3.39% to end at 913.74.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 1.43% in its final hour of trade, while the Shanghai Composite was up 1.84% to close at the highest level since May 22, and the Shenzhen Component gained 1.62% to end at 11,100.4.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes slid, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.67% and snapping its 13-day winning streak.

Should the Dow have recorded a 14th straight day of gains, the index would have tied its record winning streak going way back to 1897.

Separately, the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.55%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.64%.

— CNBC's Sarah Min and Samantha Subin contributed to this report

Vietnamese EV maker discusses how it plans to compete on price and quality in the U.S. market

VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy discusses the company's U.S. expansion strategy ahead of its groundbreaking ceremony for its electric vehicle factory in North Carolina.

Keppel sees record 55-year high profit in first half of 2023

Keppel reported a record net profit of over $3.6 billion for the half year ended June 30, significantly higher than the $498 million reported over the same period last year.

The results were "underpinned by a S$3.3 billion disposal gain from the divestment of the offshore and marine (O&M) business," Keppel said in a press release statement.

"The going is going to get tough, but we also see better investment opportunities is the second half," the group's CEO Loh Chin Hua told CNBC, adding markets are adjusting to new paradigms of higher interest rates and a slowing global economy.

While Loh sees headwinds in China, Keppel has not seen a markdown in its Chinese assets as the company's exposure in China comprise mainly of landbanks.

Keppel's shares were last trading 2.73% higher.

—Lee Ying Shan

China’s housing ministry is getting ‘bolder’ about real estate support

China's housing ministry has announced plans to make it easier for people to buy property.

"It seems to us that [the housing ministry] is quick in response this time and also gets bolder on relaxing property policies," Jizhou Dong, China property research analyst at Nomura, said in a note Friday.

Hong Kong-traded Chinese property stocks such as Longfor, Country Garden and Greentown China traded higher Friday, on pace to close out the week with gains after plunging on Monday over debt worries.

However, markets still await details on local implementation. China has also not yet announced formal measures for supporting real estate.

— Evelyn Cheng

Japan bank stocks rally even as Nikkei leads losses in Asia

Shares of Japanese banks and financials surged after the Bank of Japan announced that it will adjust its stance on its yield curve control policy Friday. 

Among the major banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group led gains in the sector and was up 4.63%, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group climbed 3.96% and Mizuho Financial Group gained 4.16%.

Despite this, the broader Nikkei 225 index led losses in Asia, tumbling almost 2% after the BOJ announcement.

— Lim Hui Jie

Yields for 10-year Japanese government bonds at highest levels in almost 9 years

Yields for 10-year Japanese government bonds stood at 0.539% after the Bank of Japan announced an adjustment in its stance for its yield curve control policy.

This is the first time 10-year JGB yields have hit this level since September 2014.

The BOJ said it will still allow yields to fluctuate in the range of around plus and minus 0.5%, but it will "conduct yield curve control with greater flexibility, regarding the upper and lower bounds the range as references, not as rigid limits, in its market operations."

Separately, Japan's central bank held its benchmark policy rate at -0.1%.

— Lim Hui Jie

South Korea industrial production climbs in June

South Korea's total industrial output climbed 0.1% on a month on month basis in June, a sharp decline from the 1.3% growth seen in May.

Output from mining and manufacturing industries went down compared to May, with the manufacturing industry seeing a 1.1% month on month decline.

However, output from the service industry and public administration sector went up from the previous month, recording gains of 0.5% and 3.1% respectively.

On a year-on-year basis, total industrial production rose 1.1%, compared to the 0.9% fall in May.

— Lim Hui Jie

Tokyo inflation rate ticks up to 3.2% in July

The consumer price index in Japan's capital city of Tokyo rose 3.2% year on year in July, slightly higher than the 3.1% recorded in the previous month.

This is the 14th straight month that the inflation rate in the capital came in above the Bank of Japan's 2% target.

Core inflation in Tokyo - which strips out prices of fresh food - came in at 3%, slightly higher than the 2.9% expected by economies polled by Reuters, but lower than June's figure of 3.2%.

— Lim Hui Jie

Yen strengthens after reports of Bank of Japan allowing long term rates to go over 0.5%

The Japanese yen has strengthened 0.38% against the greenback to trade at 138.95 after a report that the Bank of Japan will discuss tweaking its yield curve control policy.

Nikkei has learnt that the BOJ will let long-term interest rates rise beyond its cap of 0.5% "by a certain degree."

Under its yield curve control policy, the central bank targets short-term interest rates at -0.1% and the 10-year government bond yield at 0.5% above or below zero,

"The proposed change would keep the rate ceiling, but allow for moderate rises beyond that level," Nikkei added.

— Lim Hui Jie

Goldman names China stocks set for a bounce — and 2 make its list of top buy-rated picks

Goldman Sachs has named a number of Chinese stocks to buy after authorities announced a number of major fiscal stimulus measures this week.

While structural growth concerns remain, the meeting "reaffirms our view that the policy put has been activated, and the window for a tactical bounce for Chinese stocks is now open," Goldman analysts said in a July 26 research note.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Lucy Handley

CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley names 3 'top' stocks to buy and 3 to short in the office space sector

Morgan Stanley has named three stocks to buy and three to sell as it revealed its cautious stance on the global office spaces sector.

The Wall Street bank has forecast an oversupply of office space that could last more than a decade while facing headwinds from the rise in working from home, increasing capitalization rates, and expensive refinancing challenges.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

CNBC Pro: These funds have the highest annualized returns in the last 5 years — and they are not tech

Much of the market gains this year has been dominated by tech stocks.

Investors are wondering if the U.S. Federal Reserve is done raising rates after its 25 basis-point hike on Wednesday. Still, uncertainty looms ahead for the tech sector.

For those looking outside of tech, Morningstar data shows that non-tech or growth funds have also been among the top performing for the last five years.

Here's the list, and their top holdings.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Comcast, Alphabet among the 42 S&P 500 names reaching fresh highs

There are 42 names in the S&P 500 reaching fresh highs Thursday, many on the back of their recent quarterly reports.

Here are some of those names.

• Comcast trading at levels not seen since April 2022
• Alphabet C share trading at levels not seen since April 2022
• Alphabet A share trading at levels not seen since April 2022
• Meta Platforms trading at levels not seen since February 2022
• Caesars Entertainment trading at levels not seen since May 2022
• Lowe's trading at levels not seen since March 2022
• PulteGroup trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in 1972
• Royal Caribbean trading at levels not seen since February 2020
• Bunge trading at levels not seen since June 2022
• Costco trading at levels not seen since April 2022
• Constellation Brands trading at all-time highs back through our history to 1986
• Arch Capital Group trading at all-time high levels back to when it began trading on the NASDAQ in 2000
• Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class B trading at levels not seen since Apr, 2022
• MasterCard trading at all-time high levels since its IPO in May, 2006

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

— Sarah Min, Chris Hayes

Communication services outperforms, boosted by Meta, Comcast

Communication services was the leading sector in the S&P 500, up by more than 2.9% as of midday trading.

The sector was boosted by shares of Meta and Comcast, which were both higher following their most recent earnings beats.

The next highest sector was consumer discretionary, followed by information technology. Meanwhile, industrials and utilities were the two biggest laggards in the index.

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

— Sarah Min

June pending home sales beat expectations

June pending home sales rose for the first time in three months. The data showed a rise of 0.3% last month, greater than the estimate of a 0.5% decline from analysts polled by Dow Jones. Pending home sales dropped 2.7% in the prior month.

— Sarah Min

GDP comes in better than expected for the second quarter

The U.S. economy grew by 2.4% in the second quarter, beating expectations. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the economy grew by 2% in the second quarter. This is the latest piece of data pointing toward a resilient economy, not one going into a recession.

— Fred Imbert, Jeff Cox