A bout of bargain-hunting and strong industrial figures from Japan helped Asian markets rebound Friday following two days of heavy losses. Dealers ignored worse-than-expected jobs data out of the United States that dealt a blow to hopes for recovery in the world's biggest economy. However, concerns remained about the eurozone's debt problem after ratings agency Standard & Poor's warned on Wednesday it could further downgrade Greece's credit rating as it struggles to fight off a spiralling debt crisis. Tokyo's Nikkei closed 0.24 percent, or 24.07 points, higher at 10,126.03 after the government released data showing industrial output rose for the 11th straight month in January, its longest unbroken run since 1997. The ministry of economy, trade and industry said the data showed that 'on the whole, production is moving in the direction of recovery.' However, Japan's Finance Minister Naoto Kan said the government had to do more to combat deflation after core consumer prices fell 1.3 percent in January from a year earlier, the 11th straight monthly decline. However, the fall was in line with forecasts. Toyota rose 1.83 percent to 3,330 yen, after its president Akio Toyoda met the chief of the US Department of Transportation and vowed to take safety 'to the next level'. And Suzuki Motor climbed 1.07 percent to 1,889, despite saying late Thursday it was recalling more than 430,000 Suzuki and Mazda small vans in Japan to fix defective air conditioning units that could catch fire. Hong Kong was 1.27 percent higher by the break. Sydney ended up 0.95 percent, or 43.6 points, at 4,637.7. Miner BHP Billiton was up 1.6 percent to 41.10 Australian dollars and rival Rio Tinto also advanced 1.6 percent to 70.50. 'After some stabilisation in the past two weeks, it appears erratic behaviour is returning to the markets,' IG Markets analyst Ben Potter in Sydney said. 'We're seeing a tug-of-war between economic data, political concerns and company fundamentals. There's plenty of potential catalysts that could send markets lower, but few for the upside.' Regional markets shrugged off a 0.51 percent fall on Wall Street, which was hit by US jobs figures showing new claims for jobless benefits were at a three-month high. The seasonally adjusted initial claims in the week ending February 20 rose to 496,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 474,000, the department said. Analysts warned that if things did not improve, the US recovery could be jeopardy. Analysts said comments by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that interest rates would remain low for some time gave investors a slight boost. However, Shanghai fell 0.11 percent in the afternoon with resources firms leading the way due to lower commodity prices, while stocks were also hit by profit-taking after a rally in the previous two sessions. Singapore fell 0.13 percent. The euro rose to 1.3589 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade from 1.3546 in New York late Thursday, and to 121.30 Japanese yen from 120.71 yen. But the greenback was up a notch at 89.30 yen from 89.09 yen. Oil was higher, with New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, rising 36 cents to 78.53 dollars a barrel in afternoon Asian trade. London's Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was up 32 cents to 76.61 dollars. Hong Kong gold opened at 1,104.50-1,105.50 US dollars an ounce, up from Thursday's close of 1,090.00-1,091.00 dollars. In other markets: -- Seoul rose 0.45 percent, or 7.07 points, to 1,594.58. -- Taipei closed up 0.12 percent, or 9.14 points, at 7,436.10. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rose 1.03 percent to 58.80 Taiwan dollars, while United Microelectronics Corp fell 0.32 percent to 15.45. -- Wellington gained 0.14 percent, or 4.42 points, to close at 3,156.10. Air New Zealand ended down 1.5 percent at 1.29 New Zealand dollars and Telecom rallied 0.9 percent to 2.33. -- Manila closed 0.41 percent, or 12.49 points, higher at 3,043.75. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. gained 0.58 percent to 2,500 pesos while Universal Robina Corp. rose 1.16 percent to 21.75 pesos. -- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story -- 