· Asian stocks struck record highs on Thursday, with a rally by Wall Street supporting bullish investor sentiment, while the dollar pulled back from three-year lows as comments by European Central Bank officials tempered the euro’s recent rally.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was 0.2 percent higher after rising as much as 0.4 percent to a fresh record peak.

· Japan’s Nikkei share average ended lower on Thursday, pulling back from a new 26-year high as investors turned cautious, while real estate stocks and financial firms underperformed.

The Nikkei dropped 0.4 percent to 23,763.37, after hitting 24,084.42 in early trade, the highest since November1991.

· China stocks climbed on Thursday to end at two-year highs, underpinned by robust gains in banking and infrastructure firms. Share markets closed just as China was announcing that it had annual economic growth of 6.8percent in October-December.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 31.24 points or 0.91 percent at 3,475.91.

Reference: Reuters, CNBC