Asian stock markets closed higher on Friday after the Federal Reserve indicated it was unlikely to speed up monetary tightening.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng went up 21.65 points or 0.09 percent to end at 24,309.93. Singapore's Straits Times went up 5.86 points or 0.19 percent to end at 3,169.38.

South Korea's KOSPI went up 14.50 points or 0.67 percent to end at 2,164.58. Taiwan's TAIEX rose 70.86 points or 0.72 percent to end at 9,908.69.

On the other hand, Japan's benchmark index, Nikkei 225 fell 68.55 points or 0.35 percent to settle at 19,521.59. China's benchmark index, Shanghai Composite declined 31.49 points or 0.96 percent to close at 3,237.45.