(Tokyo) Global markets were mostly higher on Thursday, with market optimism boosted by a rally on Wall Street in better-than-expected corporate financial results.
In Europe, Paris rose 0.4% in early trading, while Frankfurt gained 0.4%. London was also up 0.4%.
In New York, before the markets opened, the broader S&P 500 index was up about 0.1% and the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.1%.
Trading is expected to remain relatively calm ahead of the annual central bankers’ conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver a highly anticipated speech on Friday.
Analysts are hoping Mr Powell will give clues about how hard and quickly the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates in September, after raising them to their highest level in two decades to fight inflation.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.7%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.2%.
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.2% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.4%.
Shanghai fell 0.3%.
On the New York Commodity Exchange, the price of oil rose 4 US cents to US$71.97 per barrel.