Stock market today: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surges to all time high, near 39,000

Japan's Nikkei 225 share benchmark has surged to an all-time high, bypassing its previous record set in December 1989 on heavy buying by global investors. By early afternoon Thursday it was up 1.9% at 38,997.23. Its previous record was 38,915.87, set just before Japan's bubble economy collapsed in the early 1990s. Shares elsewhere in Asia were mixed. On Wednesday, stocks ended mostly higher on Wall Street after a listless day of trading. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1%. The Dow also added 0.1% after turning slightly higher just before the close. Weakness in technology shares weighed on the Nasdaq, which ended 0.3% lower.