HONG KONG — On Friday, global stock markets experienced a generally positive trend, buoyed by significant gains on Wall Street. This uptick was largely catalyzed by strong profit reports from major companies such as Tesla, IBM, and Meta Platforms.

European exchanges opened with gains following the European Central Bank’s decision on Thursday to lower its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2.75%. In early market movements, France’s CAC 40 index increased by 0.2% to reach 7,958.35, while Germany’s DAX index remained stable at 7,958.35. The UK’s FTSE 100 also saw a 0.2% rise, bringing it to 8,667.17.

In the futures market, there was further optimism as S&P 500 futures advanced by 0.4%, and those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%.

Asian markets also exhibited positive signs, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index climbing by 0.2% to 39,572.49. Recently released data revealed that Japan’s core inflation rate increased to 2.5% in January, exceeding the central bank’s target of 2%, which points to the likelihood of future interest rate increases. Additionally, Japan’s unemployment rate fell from 2.5% to 2.4% in December.

Conversely, South Korea’s Kospi index declined by 0.8% to 2,517.37 as trading resumed after the holiday break, which was marked by turmoil in the AI sector due to concerns surrounding the Chinese startup DeepSeek. Amid this uncertainty, shares of SK Hynix, a significant supplier for Nvidia, dropped by 9.9%, while Samsung saw a decrease of 2.4%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index rose by 0.5% to 8,532.30, though Thailand’s SET index experienced a decline of 1.6%. Meanwhile, markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai remained closed as they observed the lunar new year holidays.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 marked a 0.5% increase, reaching 6,071.17, buoyed by a majority of stocks in the index gaining ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average grew by 0.4% to settle at 44,882.13, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.3% to 19,681.75. Meta Platforms played a significant role in lifting the indexes with a 1.6% rise, reporting better-than-expected profits for 2024 and emphasizing its ongoing investments in artificial intelligence.

This announcement from Meta helped alleviate some of the market’s anxiety stemming from DeepSeek’s claims of developing a competitive large language model that could function without high-end chips, igniting concerns over the viability of investments in AI hardware and infrastructure.

The ongoing AI boom has mainly supported the impressive performance of the U.S. stock market, putting pressure on tech stocks like Nvidia, which struggled earlier in the week but managed to recover slightly by 1%, aiding the S&P 500’s ascent.

However, not all tech news was favorable; Microsoft saw its shares decline by 6.2%. The software titan reported profits that exceeded analysts’ predictions, yet the market reacted negatively to its slower-than-anticipated growth rates within its cloud computing segment—a critical aspect of its AI operations.

On the economic front, Treasury yields remained stable following a report that indicated the U.S. economy was expanding at a healthy pace at the end of 2024, albeit slightly below expectations. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.52% from 4.53%. Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY, characterized the current economic conditions as a “Goldilocks” scenario—neither too hot nor too cold—while also cautioning that uncertainties in Washington regarding taxes, tariffs, and immigration could pose future challenges.

In energy markets, U.S. crude oil prices rose by 16 cents to $72.89 a barrel, while Brent crude climbed 10 cents to $75.99 per barrel. In currency exchanges, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, trading at 154.64 yen compared to 154.18 yen previously. Meanwhile, the euro decreased slightly to $1.0389, down from $1.0392.