Asian markets end higher on Friday

Asian markets ended higher on Friday after the US Federal Reserve delivered an outlook that was not as hawkish as some had anticipated. Japan’s Nikkei jumped tracking a strong lead from Wall Street, where the Dow and S&P 500 closed at fresh record highs, even as investors were still in caution mode ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting next week where it is expected to raise interest rates. Meanwhile, reports showing that Japan’s SoftBank Group and Nvidia are in talks to lead an investment of over $1 billion at a $14 billion valuation in US data center company Skild AI. Chinese and Hong Kong shares gained after China’s economic conference pledged to maintain a ‘proactive’ fiscal policy next year that would stimulate both consumption and investment.