Tokyo: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index surged Thursday past the record it set in 1989 before its financial bubble burst, ushering in an era of faltering growth. The index closed Thursday at 39,098.68, up 2.2%. Its previous record was 38,915.87, set on December 29, 1989. So now it is back to where it was 34 years ago.That was more than a generation ago at the height of Japan's post-war boom.

Nvidia added $277 billion in stock market value on Thursday, Wall Street's largest one-day gain in history after the heavyweight chipmaker's quarterly report beat expectations and reignited a rally fueled by optimism about artificial intelligence. The company's stock soared 16.4% to close at $785.38, a record-high close, lifting its market capitalization to $1.96 trillion.

The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open higher on February 23 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a positive start for the broader index with a gain of 39 points. In the highly volatile session, the benchmark indices erased all the previous session losses, with the Nifty hitting a fresh all-time high of 22,252.50 led by buying across sectors.

U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers should delay interest rate cuts by at least another couple more months to see if a recent uptick in inflation signals stalling progress toward price stability or is just a bump in the road, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday. Core consumer prices rose 0.4% in January from a month earlier.

The Aditya Birla Group, which owns market leader UltraTech Cement and Grasim Industries, is looking to add capacities to their cement business through more acquisitions, according to Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla. The comments come as the war for market share sparked an acquisition spree in the Indian cement industry.

Global brokerage firm Goldman Sachs has downgraded banking majors like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank, saying that the Goldilocks period of strong growth and strong or visible profitability was over for the financial sector for the near term. It warned that the headwinds were gathering strength for the Indian financial services sector.

Overseas investors are showing such keen interest in India assets that they are taking proxy exposure to the country even if they don’t have the license or physical presence to trade there. Foreign funds lacking direct access to India’s $1 trillion government debt market are increasing their exposure via instruments such as supranational bonds and swaps.

IKEA on Thursday said it will close down its store in the Mumbai R City Mall by the mid of this year due to limitation of layout, design, and location. Spread across 70,000 square feet, the store was opened in June 2022 and offers a limited selection of IKEA goods, the statement said. "IKEA has taken a strategic business decision to discontinue its IKEA R-city operations.

Oil prices fell on Friday after a U.S. Fed official said interest rate cuts should be delayed at least two more months. Brent crude futures were down 25 cents, or 0.3%, at $83.42 a barrel at 0212 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were 25 cents, or 0.3%, lower at $78.36. U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers should delay interest rate cuts by at least another couple of months.

GIFT Nifty traded up by 71 points or 0.32% at 22,338 indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Friday. Shares in the Asia-Pacific region are trading in positive territory on Friday morning. The Asia Dow is trading up by 1.14%, where as the Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading in green, up by 2.19%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is ended higher by 1.45%.

Gold prices on Friday were set for their first weekly gain in two, supported by a softer dollar and safe-haven buying, as investors awaited further clues on when the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to begin cutting its interest rates. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $2,026.5 per ounce, as of 0100 GMT, and has gained 0.7% for the week so far. U.S. gold futures edged 0.2% higher to $2,035.5 per ounce.

Foreign investors reduced their exposure to frontline fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in the December quarter as volume sales growth stayed weak. In Q3, FIIs reduced their stake in Hindustan Unilever to 13.65 percent from the previous quarter's 13.90 percent, while the stake in ITC dropped to 43.26 percent from 43.34 percent, show the latest shareholding pattern.

Amid speculations of stake sale to ITC, Prataap Snacks has rejected media reports claiming its stake sale to ITC. “The Company is not in negotiations as reported in the above-referred news article,” said the company in its BSE filing on Thursday. (More to come) Prataap Snacks' shares climbed 14% in Thursday's trade as a media report emerged insinuating that ITC was looking to purchase its stake.

The dollar index rebounded on Thursday after earlier hitting a three-week low as investors waited on new data catalysts for clues on when the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to begin cutting interest rates. The greenback has bounced this year as strong growth and sticky inflation leads traders to push back expectations on when the U.S. central bank will begin easing.

📌S&P 500 index briefly hit a fresh record on Thursday. 📌European shares rose to a record high on Thursday. 📌Nifty on Thursday ended 162 points higher. 📌Overall, market breadth favoured bulls as 2,012 stocks ended in the green, while 1,815 names settled with cuts. 📌Shares of Whirlpool India and Polyplex Corporation hit their 52-week lows, signalling bearish sentiment on the counters.