Asian stocks rose for the first time in four days on Thursday after a mixed performance in Europe and the US, as a weaker yen brightened the earnings prospects for Japanese exporters and Australian commodity producers reported higher profits. Futures on the S&P500 added 0.3% after the index lost 0.1% Wednesday as the Fed cut its growth forecast for the US economy.
Asian markets (Thurs)
04:45am GMT
Nikkei up 53.03 (0.70%) to 7,587.47
Topix up 4.39 (0.59%) 753.65
Hang Seng down 53.20 (-0.68%) at 12,962.80
US markets (Wed)
DJIA up 3.03 (0.04%) at 7,555.63
Nasdaq down 2.69 (-0.18%) at 1,467.97
S&P500 down 0.75 (-0.10%) at 788.42
European markets (Wed)
FTSE100 down 27.30 (-0.68) at 4,006.83
Eurofirst 300 down 2.07 (-0.27%) at 763.36
Currencies
04:42 GMT
€/$ 1.2586 (1.2587)
$/¥ 93.53 (92.34)
£/$ 1.4256 (1.4232)
Commodities (updated)
04:40 GMT
Brent Crude (Apr09) up $0.30 at $39.85
Light Crude (Mar09) up $0.04 at $34.66
100 Oz Gold (Apr09) up $2.00 at $980.20
Copper (3M 24hr) up $30.00 at $3,240.00
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.75 (2.65)
UK 3.37 (3.40)
Germany 3.01 (2.98)
Japan 1.25 (1.26)
Sources: FT, Reuters