Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, while Wall Street ended the week flat with Nvidia approaching $2 trillion market cap.

ASX futures were up 0.1% or 4 points as of 8:30am on Monday, suggesting a slightly higher open.

Nvidia shares lost some steam Friday and U.S. stock indexes had a less buoyant day as corporate earnings kept pouring in.

The DJIA gained 0.2% to 39132 and the S&P 500 rose slightly to 5089, both setting new all-time highs, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% to 15997.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil fell 2.5% to US$81.62 a barrel, while gold was up 0.5% at US$2,035.40.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was up at 3.87% while the 10 Year yield was also up at 4.19%. US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield at 4.69% and the 10 Year yield at 4.25%.

The Australian dollar hit 65.62 US cents. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was up at 98.47.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ending up 0.55% at 3004.88, above the key psychological 3000 level. Beijing's recent policy support measures were helping support investor sentiment. Focus is now on the annual plenary sessions on March 4-5. Among major stocks, Chongqing Changan Automobile rose 6.15% and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group added 4.6%. Decliners included China Telecom and China Mobile, which fell 1.95% and 1.9%, respectively. The Shenzhen Composite Index ended 1.2% higher and the ChiNext Index was flat.

Hong Kong shares edged lower, after rising three days in a row, as investors pocketed gains. Consumer-related names were among losers. Decliners included Xinyi Glass Holdings, which fell 2.8% and PC maker Lenovo, which was down 3.4% after reporting a decline in fiscal 3Q results. Meanwhile, Standard Chartered rose 3.65% after it posted higher-than-expected 4Q profit. Other gainers included Longfor Group Holdings, which was up 4.7%. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 0.1% lower at 16725.86 and the Hang Seng Tech Index was down 0.3% at 3399.84.

The Nikkei Stock Average ended 2.2% higher at 39098.68, a fresh high above the previous record closing of 38915.87 set in December 1989. Chip-related stocks led the day's gains following Nvidia's strong quarterly results. Tokyo Electron Ltd. gained 6.0%, SoftBank Group, the parent of British chip designer Arm, climbed 5.1% and Advantest rose 7.5%. USD/JPY was at 150.22, compared with 150.29 as of Wednesday 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Investors were focusing on economic data and their implications for the Bank of Japan's monetary easing policy. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell half a basis point to 0.715%.

Indian shares ended flat, giving up earlier gains in a volatile session. Heavyweight IT stocks were the biggest laggards, although the sector's weakness was partially offset by gains in auto stocks. HCL Technologies fell 1.25% and Tata Consultancy Services was 0.8% lower. Mahindra & Mahindra added 1.1% and Tata Motors was 0.5% higher. As India's earnings season comes to an end, investors' focus turned to economic data with the country's 4Q GDP coming up next week. Goldman Sachs revised its GDP growth forecast to 6.4% on year from 5.6%, driven by higher investment growth and services growth. India's benchmark Sensex ended flat at 73142.80.

Europe

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.5% to another record intraday high of 497.67, buoyed by further gains in U.S. stocks following AI giant Nvidia's bumper earnings earlier this week. "Stock markets are hitting all-time highs. And why not?" said Chris Iggo, chief investment officer for core investments at AXA Investment Managers, in a note. "Interest rates don't look to be going any higher and there is no recession on the cards, least of all in the U.S." Companies have resilient balance sheets, profit margins benefit from lower commodity prices and "there is another technology revolution underway," he said. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 hit new all-time highs, up 0.4% and 0.8% respectively.

The FTSE 100 index closed Friday up 0.3% at 7706 points lifted by banks after Standard Chartered's earnings and despite a fall in oil-exposed stocks and miners. Shares of the Asian-focused bank led the index's top risers, up 4.85%, after launching a new share buyback and beating profit expectations, followed by Rightmove and the pharmaceutical heavyweight Astrazeneca, up 1.85% and 1.8% respectively. On the other side of the table, St. James's Place shares closed down 3%, followed by Admiral Group and Schroders, down 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively.

North America

Nvidia shares lost some steam Friday and U.S. stock indexes had a less buoyant day as corporate earnings kept pouring in.

The DJIA gained 0.2% to 39132 and the S&P 500 rose slightly to 5089, both setting new all-time highs. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% to 15997. All three rose around 1.5% for the week.

The chip maker rose only 0.4%, following Thursday's 16% rally, setting a new all-time high while its market cap stopped short of closing above $2 trillion.

Booking Holdings fell 10.2% after disappointing profits.