CNBC Daily Open: Concerns over sluggish U.S. consumer spending

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe  here .

Nikkei edges closer on all-time high
Asia-Pacific markets rose Friday as Japan's Nikkei 225 reached a new 34-year high and was closing in on all-time record levels. It comes a day after the country lost its spot as the third-largest global economy to Germany and fell into a technical recession. Overnight, the S&P 500 set a new record high despite fresh data showing retail sales dropped 0.8% in January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a late-day rally and the Nasdaq Composite also gained.

BOJ 's balancing act
Japan's central bank is likely to make some policy changes including exiting from negative interest rates this spring, said a former Bank of Japan board member. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has been facing pressure to stem yen weakness due to interest rate divergence between the U.S. and Japan.

Riding on Nvidia's success
A filing showed Nvidia took stakes in a handful of public companies. Shares of most of those artificial intelligence companies soared on Thursday, reflecting investors' strong interest to ride on Nvidia's AI growth story.

Forget Tesla look at Ford
Ford CEO Jim Farley told investors to forget about Tesla as the future of the auto industry, urging them to instead focus on Ford's "Pro" fleet business. "If you're looking for the future of the automotive industry, stop looking at FSD and Tesla. Look at Ford Pro. It's got half a million subscribers with 50% gross margin," he said.

[PRO] Asia's AI standouts
Given the artificial intelligence boom, Morgan Stanley picked stocks it called