Asian markets continued their rally on Fridayas slew of economic policy measures rolled out by the Chinese government this week to revive the economy lifted the investor optimism. The stimulus package which was better than expected by markets from Beijing lifted most Asian markets to their 2-year highs this week. The better-than-expected Jobless data from the U.S also added to investor confidence.

Japan's Nikkei 225 surgedto the peak of 39,297.59 points in morning trade but pared some of the gains in to trading flat at 38988.59 marginally up by 0.14%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index opened at 20446.74and was trading up2% or 415 points. Taiwan's benchmark index rose0.65% and South Korea's Kospi was trading flat losing 0.24% morning session Thursday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1.1% to reach its highest level since February 2022.

Mainland China's blue-chip indexsurged more than 2% to trade at 3623.48 asthe People's Bank of China said that it would cut the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, the second reduction this year in continuation of its broad easing measures announced this week. Thestimulus measures from China aimed at helping its slowing economy pull out also raised investor confidence across markets in Asia.

Gift Nifty was trading at 26,216 level, registering a gain of 211 points or 0.81%, indicating a positive start for the Indian stock market indices.

US stock market ended higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 scoring a record closing high, amid strong economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 260.36 points, or 0.62%, to 42,175.11, while the S&P 500 rose 23.11 points, or 0.40%, to close at 5,745.37, after rising to a record intraday high of 5,767.37. The Nasdaq Composite ended 108.09 points, or 0.60%, higher at 18,190.29.

 The U.S. weekly jobless claims data released overnight signalled a steady labour market, as the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week. The U.S GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth for the second quarter was at 3% meeting analyst's expectations.