For all the nail-biting about the economy over the past year, investors had it easy: a 5% yield on short-term U.S. debt, one of the safest investments in the world. Now, the times they are a-changin’—again.

Asian stocks surged on Friday with Japan’s Nikkei leading regional gains after Wall Street romped to records following the Federal Reserve’s big cut to interest rates. U.S. futures and oil prices were lower.

The S&P 500 is hovering just below record territory, driven by a revived rally as bets have grown that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by half a percentage point.