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 Federal Reserve's closely followed overnight reverse-repo facility already has begun to reflect Wednesday's big interest-rate cut. Wall Street firms rushed to park extra cash overnight at the facility in the wake of the pandemic,