Stock market today: Asian shares track Wall Street rally as Japan’s Nikkei nears a record high

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BANGKOK (AP) — Shares advanced in Asia on Friday, with Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index trading near a record high, 35 years after it peaked and then plunged with the collapse of Japan’s financial bubble.

U.S. futures were lower after stocks on Wall Street set a fresh record following some mixed reports on the economy.

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The Nikkei 225 closed 0.9% higher, at 38,487.24. It has been hovering just below the record high of 38,915.87 that it set on Dec. 29, 1989, right before a plunge in share and property prices ushered in an era of slower, faltering growth. At its highest point Friday, it traded at 38,865.06.