SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia hit a 6 week high on Friday on news overnight that the ECB was injecting more stimulus into the economy, and a shaving of official interest rates by 10 basis points.

Positive overtures by both China and the U.S. on trade tariffs also helped sentiment.

"Risk assets should find further support from accommodative policies, which are set to remain in vogue for some time, and not just in Europe as seen in the global easing trend," Esty Dwek, head of global market strategy at Natixis in Geneva, Switzerland was quoted by the Reuters Thomson news agency as saying.

"Nonetheless, we believe that trade uncertainty and growth concerns will not vanish, so any reprieve on either subject will be welcome. We also believe that some earnings growth will be needed for equities to grind higher," she added.

The U.S. dollar was under pressure in Asia, probably undergoing a bout of profit-taking.

At the close of trading on Friday, the Nikkei 225 in Japan was ahead 228.68 points or 1.05% at 21,988.29.

In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 22.42 points or 0.75% to 3,031.24.

The Australian All Ordinaries climbed 11.40 points or 0.17% to 6,777.10.

The euro rose sharply, to topple the 1.1100 level earlier in the Asian session. By the Sydney close, and as Europe had begun trading, the EU unit had settled back at 1.1084, still well ahead of its New York close.

The British pound strengthened to 1.2404, while the Swiss franc jumped to 0.9886.

The Canadian dollar was little changed at 1.3221. The Australian dollar was a tad higher at 0.6872, while the New Zealand dollar was a fraction lower at 0.6399.

Overnight on Wall Street , the Dow Jones rose for the seventh trading session in a row, adding 45.41 points or 0.17% to 27,182.45.

The Standard and Poor's 500 strengthened 8.64 points or 0.29% to 3,009.57.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 24.79 points or 0.30% to 8,194.47.