A rise on Wall Street and reports that the Bank of Japan may further loosen monetary policy helped Asian shares higher Friday, ahead of the release of key US jobs data.

However, apprehension remained as China warned it would slash lending in a bid to tame asset prices, as Beijing tries to balance rapid economic expansion with a delicate transition from huge stimulus measures.

Tokyo soared 2.20 percent, or 223.24 points, to 10,368.96 on a report by the Nikkei business daily that the Bank of Japan will likely consider more monetary easing, or steps to increase liquidity to stimulate the economy, through April.

If the bank, which has already dropped rates to near-zero, takes such steps, it "will have a healing effect on the economy as a whole", Nikko Cordial Securities equity general manager Hiroichi Nishi said.

Exporters gained on a lower yen, with Sony up 3.38 percent and Canon gaining 3.32 percent.

Seoul closed up 1.01 percent or 16.37 points at 1,634.57 while Sydney added 0.35 percent or 16.7 points to 4,767.2 in cautious trade ahead of the release of US non-farm payrolls data later Friday.

Beijing Friday predicted eight percent growth this year for the economic giant, as Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to maintain "moderately loose" monetary policy and the "basic stability" of the yuan exchange rate to support growth.

"Investors are getting some reassurance from the premier's speech that the government's focus is on putting the economy on a sound footing," Zhang Gang, an analyst from Southwest Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Shanghai closed 0.25 percent, or 7.69 points higher at 3,031.07.

Hong Kong added 1.03 percent, or 212.19 points, to close at 20,787.97.

But there was a note of caution as Wen vowed to cut lending in an effort to rein in soaring real estate prices and curb speculative investment amid fears of a damaging property bubble, capping gains.

"We will resolutely curb the precipitous rise of housing prices in some cities," he said, adding that authorities would slash new bank loans by about a fifth in 2010 to 7.5 trillion yuan.

Massive bank lending in 2009 has triggered fears that the cash flood has fed a spending spree by property speculators.

Asian markets were given a strong cue from Wall Street, where US stocks rose 0.46 percent after the Labor Department said fewer Americans claimed jobless benefits in the week to February 20, ahead of Friday's jobs data.

However, the positive figures were offset by a smaller-than-expected rise in US factory orders and an unexpected sharp drop in pending home sales.

Many traders in Asia were cautiously staying on the sidelines ahead of Friday's figures, dealers said.

The latest twists in Greece's efforts to resolve its public deficit and debt crisis also appeared to dent confidence generated earlier this week when Athens announced an additional set of austerity measures, dealers said.

Greece successfully launched a 6.8-billion-dollar bond issue Thursday to raise funds, but faced stiffening opposition to its plea for help and its threat to go to the International Monetary Fund for support.

The safe-haven dollar moved higher in Asian trade as a result.

The greenback rose to 89.28 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade from 89.10 in New York late Thursday.

The euro, which has dropped six percent against the US currency so far this year, was steady at 1.3591 dollars. The European currency was higher at 121.33 yen from 120.99.

Oil was higher. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, gained 47 cents to 80.68 dollars a barrel.

London's Brent North Sea crude for April was up 54 cents to 79.08 dollars.

Hong Kong gold closed flat Friday at 1,134.00-1,135.00 US dollars an ounce, unchanged from Thursday.

In other markets:

-- Manila suffered a series of technical glitches that interrupted trading, which was extended by an hour.

The composite index ended up 1.17 percent, or 35.50 points, at 3,069.63.

The problems had seen the exchange's website quote the wrong close and officials announced the changes some five hours after trading closed.

-- Singapore closed 0.78 percent or 21.59 points higher at 2,790.29.

Singapore Airlines closed 66 cents higher at 15.90 Singapore dollars while Singapore Telecommunications was two cents up at 3.07.

-- Taipei closed up 1.27 percent, or 96.46 points at 7,666.26.

Sentiment was buoyed after Wen vowed to facilitate cooperation between the two sides and push for a planned landmark trade agreement.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rose 2.03 percent to 60.40 Taiwan dollars (1.89 US dollars) and United Microelectronics Corp gained 1.90 percent to 16.10.

-- Jakarta closed up 0.51 percent, or 13.13 points, to 2,578.77.

Indosat rose 1.8 percent to 5,550, Telkom added 0.6 percent to 8,300 while car maker Astra gained 2.1 percent to 36,800 rupiah.

Cigarette maker Gudang Garam fell 2.5 percent to 27,000 rupiah.

-- Malaysia was up 1.22 percent, or 15.69 points at 1,299.78, a six-week high.

Rubber glove manufacturer Top Glove rose 3.5 percent to 11.98 ringgit, multinational Genting added 6.4 percent to 6.65 and Maybank gained 5.6 percent to 7.40.

-- Wellington closed flat, edging 1.09 points higher to 3,214.64.

Fletcher Building fell two cents to 8.10 dollars and Contact Energy dropped three cents to 6.08.

-- Bangkok fell 0.94 percent, or 6.86 points, to close at 723.96.

Banpu lost 4 baht to finish at 574 baht, PTT Plc shed 5 baht to 231 baht and Siam Cement was off 2 baht to 229 baht.

-- Mumbai rose 0.13 percent, or 22.79 points, to 16,994.49.

The market was lifted by premier Manmohan Singh saying the economy would grow at least eight percent in the year to March 2011, while sentiment was also helped after New Delhi said prospects for the winter crop were encouraging.

India's top property firm DLF rose 3.97 percent or 12.1 rupees to 316.55.