Asian stock indices were trading sharply higher on Friday, as ECB president Mario Draghi's encouraging comments in support of the euro sparked speculation about fresh monetary measures from the central bank to rein in the eurozone credit crisis.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped 1.6% at 12:35 p.m. in Tokyo, paring a weekly loss. About seven stocks rose for each one that fell in MSCI’s Asian-Pacific gauge, which has lost 0.9% this week. Technology companies led today’s gains.

Financials did well in Hong Kong while steel makers were other notable gainers. Growth-sensitive resource shares were also strong performers across Asia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its best day this month on Thursday following the comments by ECB President Draghi that the central bank will do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.

Draghi's pledge to preserve the euro has stoked expectations that the ECB may intervene in the bond markets of the struggling Eurozone members.

Three interest-rate cuts by the ECB since November 2011 have failed to stop bond yields rising to euro area records in Spain and Italy, threatening the survival of the euro.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said last week that policy makers are looking for ways to stimulate the US economy. The Fed will hold a two-day policy meeting starting July 31.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa has also said that the Japanese central bank will pursue powerful monetary easing until its 1% inflation objective set in February is in sight.

Chinese industrial companies’ profits fell for a third month in June, a government report showed today, as decelerating growth in the world’s second-biggest economy hurt corporate earnings.

Income fell 1.7% last month from a year earlier, while earnings in the first six months declined 2.2% to 2.31 trillion yuan ($362 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website today.

The drop in June profit compares with a 5.3% decline in May and 2.2% drop in April. The first-half decrease was after a 2.4% slide in the first five months and 28.7% gain in the same period in 2011.

South Korea’s current-account surplus widened to a record in June. The surplus was US$5.8bn, compared with a revised surplus of US$3.6bn in May, the Bank of Korea said in a statement in Seoul today.

Japan's deflation deepened in June, as the core consumer price index fell 0.2% from a year earlier, compared to a 0.1% drop in May, according to government data today.

The drop in core CPI, which excludes volatile fresh-food prices, outpaced a 0.1% fall projected by economists. June's core CPI was down 0.3% from May, while overall CPI fell 0.2% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month.

Furniture and household utensils saw the largest price drop, falling 3.4% from a year earlier, while fuel, light and water led price gains, rising 3.5% from June 2011.

A worsening deflation means the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is likely to expand its monetary easing, which would check appreciation in the yen.

Japanese retail sales worsened in June, both overall and for large retailers in particular, according to Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry data.

Overall seasonally adjusted retail sales rose 0.2% from a year earlier, slowing sharply from a 3.6% year-on-year gain in May and a 5.7% rise in April.

Large Japanese retailers clocked third straight month of drop in sales, according to the data, which showed a 2.6% drop, wider than a 0.8% year-on-year fall in May and a 0.6% decrease in April.

A record profit from South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. bolstered the Kospi index in Seoul. Samsung posted a record US$5.9bn profit, spurred by soaring sales of its smartphones. Shares of Samsung rallied following the announcement of the company's results.

Samsung forecast higher demand for panels and handsets in emerging markets. Second-quarter profit climbed 48% to a record 5.19 trillion won (US$4.5bn), trailing some analysts’ estimates.