Indian equity indices closed in the red on Friday as profit booking was seen at a higher level.

Intraday, Sensex and Nifty made a new all-time high of 85,978 and 26,277 respectively.

At closing, Sensex was down 264 points or 0.31 per cent at 85,571 and Nifty was down 37 points or 0.14 per cent at 26,178.

The market decline was led by banking stocks. Nifty Bank fell 541 points or one per cent to 53,834.

A bridge in Bihar's Bhagalpur district collapsed due to a strong water flow on Friday, causing disruptions to road traffic for the locals.

The structure, constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD) two years ago, was located in Chaukhandi village in Pirpaiti block.

According to the villagers, the bridge had shown signs of damage on Thursday, with one side appearing bent. By Friday morning, the entire structure fell into the water.

The collapse has severed the connection between the block headquarters and the district, impacting the movement of about 1,00,000 people from six Panchayats. Despite the critical situation, no administrative officials had arrived at the scene, leading to accusations of negligence from the affected villagers.

Landslides have been reported from a number of places in the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in northern Bengal, following heavy showers in the entire zone since last night.

the state government sources said that following the landslides, several pockets around National High 10 had been cut off from the mainland. The water level at Teesta river has almost reached the danger mark and is rising following constant rains.

Those residing on the banks of river Teesta have already been alerted by the local administration. The situation has been reported to be quite critical following massive waterlogging in the plains of Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts.

“A number of houses have been damaged at Mirik, Ghoom, and Sukhia Pokhari area in Darjeeling district because of the landslide. The residents of these houses have been relocated to safe places. We are trying our best to remove the debris from the National Highways as early as possible so that traffic movement can start there,” said a district administration official.

As per the prediction, rainfall is expected to continue till Saturday, especially in the districts of north Bengal.

The central banks of Indonesia and Malaysia here on Friday renewed their local currency bilateral swap agreement, also known for its abbreviation as LCBSA, of up to $5.42 billion.

According to a joint statement released by Bank Indonesia (BI) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) on Friday, the agreement renewal is effective for five years, news agency reported.

The renewal reinforces the ongoing cooperation between the central banks.

The banks' first agreement was signed in 2019 and was extended in 2022.

"Bank Indonesia views the enhancement of cooperation in the LCBSA agreement with BNM as representing an important role of international cooperation as part of Bank Indonesia's policy mix that supports key policies in the monetary, macroprudential, and payment systems sectors, while at the same time contributing to the development of local currency-based transactions in both countries," BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said in a statement.

Tokyo stocks continued their upward trend on Friday as the country's ruling party held an election for a new leader to succeed outgoing Fumio Kishida.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, jumped 2.32 per cent, or 903.93 points, to close at 39,829.56, marking the first time in almost two months to surpass the 39,000 threshold, news agency reported.

Lawmakers from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) started voting for a new leader on Friday afternoon and the market has betted on female hopeful Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi to win, expecting her to adopt pro-growth economic policies if chosen.

Japan's former Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who won the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) presidential election on Friday, is all set to become the country's next Prime Minister with the official parliamentary appointment scheduled for Tuesday.

Ishiba, 67, won the presidential runoff with 215 votes against Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, who garnered 194 votes. He will replace PM Fumio Kishida who had decided to step down following a slush funds scandal that rocked the ruling party.

This was Ishiba's fifth bid for the LDP leadership. Over the years, he had cemented his reputation as a seasoned policy expert with deep knowledge in defence, agriculture, and regional revitalization.

Following his victory in the highly-competitive race that saw a record nine contenders, Ishiba called for unity within the party while addressing the supporters at the LDP headquarters.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) commended Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for providing a substantial number of government jobs. AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang stated that the Mann government has given over 45,000 government positions to youth in the last two and a half years, without any bribery or recommendations.

Speaking to the media at the Chandigarh party office on Friday, Malvinder Kang highlighted that under previous governments, individuals often had to pay lakhs of rupees in bribes for government jobs, with many positions going to the families and relatives of politicians. As a result of the lack of employment opportunities, many young people felt compelled to seek work abroad.

At least 15 workers were killed and 25 others injured after an unlicensed gold mine collapsed in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra, a local disaster mitigation agency reported on Friday.

The incident reportedly occurred in Nagari Sungai Abu in the province's Solok regency, news agency reported, citing the local disaster mitigation agency.

Solok Disaster Mitigation Agency Chief Irwan Efendi told local media that 15 miners were killed in the disaster, with three others suffering injuries and 25 others missing, he added.

According to him, more rescuers with heavy equipment have been deployed to evacuate victims in the location.

Twenty-three Syrian refugees, mostly women and children, were killed in an airstrike on Lebanon's Younine area, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry on Thursday said that the airstrike was launched just hours before Israeli forces struck the Matrabah border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, injuring several refugees fleeing the violence.

The statement accused Israel of deliberately targeting innocent civilians, including refugees seeking safety, news agency reported.

South Korea had "constructive" talks with the United States this week to advance the negotiations for determining Seoul's share of the cost for the upkeep of American troops here, a Seoul official said Friday.

The allies wrapped up the three-day defence cost-sharing talks in Seoul, amid growing speculation that the two sides might be nearing an end to renew the multi-year deal for stationing 28,500-strong US soldiers in South Korea, news agency reported.

"South Korea and the United States held constructive discussions aimed at narrowing their differences on key issues of mutual interest," a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.