Chinese home prices picked up in April in their fifth consecutive monthly rise, an independent survey showed on Thursday. The cost of a new home in 100 major cities rose 5.3 percent year-on-year to an average 10,098 yuan (US$1,638) per square meter, said the China Index Academy.

Shares in Taiwan closed higher to finish above the 8,100-point mark Thursday amid hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue to ease liquidity to boost the economy, dealers said.

Perng Fai-nan, governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan), said Thursday that the value of the New Taiwan dollar will be decided by the market.

Taiwan's representative office in Japan has set up a task force for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — a proposed free trade group made up of Pacific-Rim countries — that will boost information exchanges with Japan on the issue, an official said Thursday.

Citing improvements in the country's macroeconomic fundamentals, international credit rating firm Standard and Poor's has followed the lead of its competitor, Fitch Ratings, and gave the Philippines an investment grade.

Indonesian inflation eased to 5.57 percent on-year in April due to lower food prices after the government eased some import restrictions, official data showed on Wednesday.

Japan's household spending surged in March at the fastest pace in nine years in a sign that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bold efforts to end two decades of stagnation are lifting consumer confidence and setting the stage for an economic revival.

South Korea's industrial output fell for a third straight month in March as carmakers struggled in the face of a weaker yen, which benefits their Japanese rivals, official data showed Tuesday.

The local manufacturing sector flashed a blue light in March, indicating declining sentiment, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) announced yesterday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday it is “carefully” monitoring massive capital flows into Asia and urged the region's policymakers to guard against risks of overheating.