South Korea’s won finished its biggest weekly gain in almost two months as data showed a pickup in economic growth and widening current-account surplus. Government bonds were little changed.

Bank of Japan is still working to introduce more stimuli to support the economic recovery in Japan as global economic cycle faces many obstacles during this period. BOJ unexpectedly boosted its bond purchases by 10 trillion yen and set an inflation goal of 1% in February, helping weaken the yen to an 11-month low against the dollar.

China's service sector growth slowed marginally in March, a survey by Markit Economics revealed Thursday.

The headline seasonally adjusted HSBC/Markit Business Activity Index, an indicator of activity in the service sector, fell to 53.3 in March from 53.9 in February.

Japanese residents purchased a net 762.4 billion yen in foreign bonds and notes in the week ended March 31, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.

Australia Trade balance released its reading for February where the reading came disappointed as it showed unexpected deficit for the second consecutive month and the first consecutive deficit in two years.

Indonesia's budget deficit would possibly reach 3.1 percent of GDP this year without a fuel price adjustment and assuming oil prices of $120 per barrel, the World Bank said in its latest quarterly report released on Wednesday.

The lender also projects a deficit of 2.5 percent of GDP provided oil prices remain high and fuel prices are adjusted in the third quarter. These projections compare with a revised Budget deficit level of 2.2 percent.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged state-owned banks to end their "monopoly" in lending, to allow freer flow of capital to the country's private sector.

Asian currencies rose for a third day, led by gains in India’s rupee and South Korea’s won, after manufacturing growth in the U.S and China beat forecasts, buoying demand for the region’s assets.

China's non-manufacturing sector expanded in March, according to a report published by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Tuesday.

Australian retail sales advanced in February for a second straight month, led by gains at department stores and newstands.

Retail sales in Singapore increased unexpectedly in January, figures from the Department of Statistics showed Thursday.

Sales increased 1.7 percent year-on-year in January, while economists' expectations were for a 1.3 percent decline. This followed a 4.3 percent increase in December.

Average spending required to earn A$100 shopping reward on credit cards rose to A$18,400 last year, according to figures released by the Reserve Bank of Australia Thursday.

The RBA Bulletin showed that this is equal to a 0.54 percent benefit to the card holder as a proportion of spending. In 2003, the average spending required to earn a A$100 shopping voucher was A$12 400, whereas by 2004 this rose to A$14 400.

Unemployment rate in Singapore declined to its lowest level in 14 years in 2011, revised estimates by the Ministry of Manpower confirmed Thursday.

The rate fell to 2 percent in 2011 from 2.2 percent in 2010. In the December quarter, the jobless rate remained unchanged at 2 percent compared to the previous quarter. All the figures matched the preliminary estimates.

Foreign residents bought a net 87.0 billion yen worth of Japan stocks last week, Japan's Ministry of Finance reported Thursday.

China’s economy is already in a so- called “hard landing,” according to Adrian Mowat, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief Asian and emerging-market strategist.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Wednesday that yuan may be nearing an equilibrium level and that the government will continue with its exchange rate reforms, allowing more flexibility in yuan.

The real effective exchange rate of yuan may have reached equilibrium after rising by 30 percent since China launched the exchange rate reform in 2005, Wen said at the end of the annual Parliamentary session.

Unemployment rate in South Korea climbed to its highest level in eleven months in February, the latest figures from Statistics Korea showed Wednesday.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent in February, the highest since March 2011, from 3.5 percent in January. However, the rate was 0.3 percentage point below last year's level.

Japan is on Tuesday scheduled to release final numbers for industrial production in January, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Little change is expected from the preliminary reading that called for an increase in output of 2.0 percent on month and a contraction of 1.2 percent on year, as well as a 3.1 percent monthly gain in capacity utilization.

Consumer sentiment in Australia declined in March, according to survey results released Wednesday by Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute.

The consumer sentiment index declined 5.0 percent from February.

China’s economic growth slowed in the first two months of the year, with both exports and domestic demand moderating faster than analysts had forecast, building the case for Premier Wen Jiabao to accelerate stimulus measures.