Asian stock markets advanced on Friday, led by technology shares, after Wall Street rallied as Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller eased concerns about an imminent U.S. interest-rate increase. Markets cut the implied probability of a rate hike this month to about 50% from 63% earlier, according to CME FedWatch. Japan’s Nikkei rose more than 1%, South Korea’s KOSPI gained 1.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.2%, while SoftBank Group surged more than 10%. Investors remained focused on the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later Friday; the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.1%. A weak report could reinforce expectations for unchanged Fed rates, while a stronger result could revive rate-hike bets. Brent crude remained near $96 a barrel and was up about 7% for the week as tensions and uncertainty around energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz kept inflation risks elevated.