The pound firmed against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday, after a media report that Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party privately consented to back Theresa May's 'Plan B' Brexit deal, which is scheduled to vote next week.

The Sun reported that the unionist party had decided to give conditional backing for May's Brexit deal next week.

The DUP agreed to back the PM's plan if it includes a clear time-limit to the unpopular Irish backstop, the report showed.

Asian stock markets strengthened following the mostly positive cues overnight from Wall Street despite worries about U.S.-China trade talks.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC the U.S. is "miles and miles" from a trade deal with China. The comments from Ross come ahead of Chinese Vice Premier Liu He's trip to Washington next week for the next round of trade negotiations.

The pound that ended Thursday's trading at 1.3063 against the greenback spiked up to a 2-1/2-month high of 1.3139. If the pound continues its uptrend, 1.325 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The pound climbed to a 1-1/2-month high of 144.23 against the yen, up from Thursday's closing value of 143.22. The pound is seen finding resistance around the 146.00 region.

Data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed that overall consumer prices in the Tokyo region rose 0.4 percent on year in January.

That was unchanged from the December reading, although it exceeded expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent.

The U.K. currency appreciated to 1.3076 against the franc, its strongest since November 15. The currency is poised to target resistance around the 1.32 mark.

The pound spiked up to 0.8618 against the euro, a level unseen since May, 2017. Next key resistance for the pound is seen around the 0.84 mark.

Looking ahead, German Ifo business climate index for January is due in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. trade data for November, retail sales, building permits and housing starts for December are scheduled for release.

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