Economy and markets: All you need to know to start your day on Feb. 16

Trading in Asia is likely to be subdued on Friday as most of the Asian markets are shut for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended higher for a fifth straight session as investors shrugged off strong inflation data and kept piling into technology stocks.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.4 percent. Wall Street surged overnight, with the the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 1.23 percent to close at 25,200.37.

China, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia markets are closed on Friday as celebrations for the Year of the Dog have begun. Chinese mainland markets are closed from February 15 till 21.

Back home, SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50's trend in India, signals a positive start for the domestic markets after the benchmark Sensex rose 141 points or 0.41 percent to close at 34,297 on Thursday.

The Indian rupee ended at 63.91 per dollar on Thursday from its previous close of 64.09 per dollar.

So far this year, the rupee has fallen 0.14 percent against the U.S. dollar, while overseas investors have bought $1.13 billion from local equity and $2.11 billion in debt markets.

Economic data: India's trade deficit grew to $16.3 billion in January, the highest monthly figure since May 2013, compared with $14.88 billion for December.

Gold loses sheen: Indian gold imports declined 22 percent in January, the government data showed.

Earnings: Varun Beverages will report its fourth-quarter earnings later in the day.