Asian stock markets rise as Nikkei sets new record

Asian stock markets showed mostly positive performance on Thursday, with the exception of the Indian Sensex, while Japan's Nikkei 225 reached a historic milestone by surpassing the 42,000-point level on Thursday.

The positive sentiment in Asian markets followed remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinting at potential rate cuts later this year, boosting investor confidence across the region.

While Powell acknowledged the significant progress towards achieving the Fed's 2% inflation target over the past two years, he also emphasized on Wednesday that he was not yet ready to declare victory over inflation.

In South Korea, the central bank maintained its policy interest rate unchanged at 3.5% for the 12th consecutive time on Thursday, awaiting further evidence of sustained inflation moderation.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen continued to trade near historic lows against the US dollar, currently at 161.7 as of GMT0719. The Nikkei 225 index in Japan surged to a peak of 42,426.77 points during the day, closing up by 0.9% at 42,224.02 points.

In South Korea, the Kospi index concluded the day at 2,891.35 points, up 0.8% from the previous close. The Shanghai Composite index in China also recorded gains, closing at 2,970.39 points, up 1.06%. Similarly, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong climbed 2.06% to 17,831.13 points as of GMT 0722.

Conversely, the Sensex index in India experienced a slight decline, closing at 79,778.81 points, down 0.17% as of GMT0722.