Sawt Falasteen - Stocks gain on AI optimism, US rate-cut hopes

A rally in tech stocks was given another lift on Friday by an agreement between Japan's Hitachi and ChatGPT developer OpenAI to work on AI and energy.

Shares in Hitachi jumped more than 10 percent, with other Japanese tech firms and investment giant SoftBank following suit.

The advance helped push Tokyo's Nikkei 1.9 percent higher.

European markets also advanced, led by banks and mining stocks.

Hong Kong retreated, while Shanghai was closed for a holiday.

A surge in AI investment this year has helped push the valuations of some of the sector's biggest names to eye-watering levels -- with US chip titan Nvidia topping $4 trillion -- and several stock markets to record highs.

This week has seen extra momentum after South Korean semiconductor giants Samsung and SK hynix said they had struck a preliminary deal with the OpenAI to supply chips and other equipment for its Stargate project.

Wall Street stocks finished at fresh records again Thursday.

Positive sentiment has also been supported by data in recent months pointing to a slowdown in the US labour market, which led the Federal Reserve to cut borrowing costs and indicate more to come.

Traders brushed off a standoff in Washington that has seen the government partially shut down, leading to the closure of some services and the likely delay of the release of key jobs figures later in the day.

While the readings on non-farm payrolls (NFPs) is a major guide for the Fed when deciding monetary policy, analysts said the shutdown was unlikely to deter the bank from an expected second rate cut this month.

"Markets seem to have taken this political impasse in their stride, showing little sign of stress," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

"The lack of market reaction highlights how little investors believe the shutdown will matter for the medium-term outlook on growth or interest rates," he added.

A Senate vote is expected Friday on a House-passed resolution to keep the government funded at current levels through November 21.

In company news, Japanese beer titan Asahi fell more than one percent after a cyberattack that hit its ordering and delivery system this week forced it to stop production at some factories.

Its shares have fallen around seven percent this week. Officials at the firm said they did not know when they would be back up and running.

The positive mood on trading floors has also helped bitcoin regain some of its mojo, striking back above $120,000 for the first time since mid-August when it hit a record 124,515.

- Key figures at around 1100 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 9,464.95 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 8,079.64

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 24,431.87

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.9 percent at 45,769.50 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 27,140.92 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 46,519.72 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1736 from $1.1720 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3453 from $1.3446

Dollar/yen: UP at 147.33 yen from 147.19 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.25 pence from 87.17 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $60.76 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $64.37 per barrel

U.Shaheen--SF-PST