Gold continued to hover around its record high and silver reached $75 an ounce for the first time, as US military and economic pressure on Venezuela persisted.

Regional stocks extended their upward rise after Wall Street saw US shares close at a record high this week. Most markets across the world were shuttered Thursday for Christmas.

Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei all rose on Friday.

Many markets extended their year-end rallies as analysts projected a "Santa Claus rally" -- the phenomenon where prices tend to rise during the last five days of December and the first two days of the new year.

The changes came after traders in New York pushed the S&P 500 to an all-time high before the Christmas break in response to figures showing the world's top economy expanded 4.3 percent in the third quarter.

Gold continued to push above $4,500 an ounce, while silver hit its record, with US-Venezuela tensions adding to expectations that the Fed will keep cutting rates next year.

Geopolitical worries have grown as Washington pressures Caracas with a blockade of sanctioned oil vessels sailing to and from Venezuela.

- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 50,868.30 (break)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,964.34

Dollar/yen: UP at 156.21 yen from 155.98 yen on Thursday

Euro/dollar: UP $1.1787 from $1.1782

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3513 from $1.3529

Euro/pound: UP at 87.23 pence from 87.21 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $58.47 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $62.35 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 48,731.16 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 9,870.68 (close)