Mt. Fuji and Shinjuku skyline in Tokyo, Friday, February 14, 2025. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Asia-Pacific markets rose on Friday, tracking Wall Street’s gains as two major indexes hit new records following the US Federal Reserve’s recent decision to cut interest rates.
The central bank on Wednesday cut its key overnight borrowing rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.
Japanese benchmark Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.37% to close at 50,836.55, while TOPIX rose 1.98% to close at 3,423.83. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.38% to 4,167.16, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.29% to 937.34.
australian benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.23% to 8,697.3. India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.6%. The rupee fell to a record low of 90.55 rupees against the dollar.
hong kong Hang Seng Index rose 1.75%, while the mainland CSI 300 rose 0.63% to 4,580.95.
Chinese leaders concluded their annual economic planning meeting on Thursday, confirming wide-ranging economic support for the coming year, including boosting consumption and stabilizing the real estate sector. Policymakers continued to focus on strengthening domestic technology capabilities, a key priority for the next five-year plan starting in 2026.
One night in America Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P500 Investors traded high-flying tech stocks for stocks likely to benefit from U.S. economic growth after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, pushing prices to new highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 646.26 points (1.34%) across 30 stocks, closing at a record high of 48,704.01. It also hit a new intraday high, supported by the index’s rise. visa Stock after upgrade by Bank of America. The market-wide S&P 500 index rose 0.21% to settle at 6,901.00, also a new closing price record. however, Nasdaq Composite It returned 0.26% to end at 23,593.86.
—CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng, Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
