Asian markets climbed on Friday following a strong performance on Wall Street, with Hong Kong leading the way as forecast-beating earnings reports by tech titans Alibaba and Baidu sent their shares soaring. The positive mood put the region on course to end the week on a healthy note, and came after Federal Reserve minutes indicated the US central bank could take a breather in hiking interest rates if inflation shows signs of easing later in the year. Still, confidence on trading floors remains at a premium owing to a range of crises including soaring prices, tighter monetary policy, China’s COVID lockdowns and the war in Ukraine. Investors were in a buying mood on Friday as Hong Kong jumped more than three per cent with market heavyweight Alibaba piling on more than 12 per cent and search engine Baidu advancing more than 15 per cent. The two firms posted better-than-expected sales growth in the January-March quarter, soothing fears about the impact of COVID and inflation on their bottom lines. Hong Kong’s tech index jumped four per cent, with other giants also enjoying buying interest with JD.com and Meituan up more than five per cent. The reports were much-needed pieces of...