On Wall, the Dow was up 0.14 percent at 14,959.06 and the S&P 500 0.2 percent higher at 1,658.48.
Uncertainty also continued to hang over markets relating to Syria's civil war and whether the U.S. would launch a punitive strike against President Bashar Assad's regime for a chemical attack against civilians last month. At the G-20 summit of world leaders in Russia this week, President Barack Obama failed to garner much support for military intervention, though he claimed there was a growing recognition that "the world cannot stand idly by."
Earlier, in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell on profit-taking after four sessions of gains. The benchmark index closed down 1.5 percent at 13,860.81. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2 percent to 1,955.31. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose slightly to 5,145.
Stocks in Hong Kong and mainland China have posted gains in recent days after Chinese manufacturing data showed the slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy is stabilizing.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.1 percent to 22,621.22. The Shanghai index advanced 0.8 percent to 2,139.99. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.5 percent to 1,030.76.
Benchmark crude for October delivery was up $1.60 to $109.96 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.14 to close at $108.37 on Thursday.
In currencies, the euro was up 0.4 percent at $1.3169, while the dollar fell to 99.01 yen from 100.14 yen.
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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.