Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, led by automakers and mining companies, after US consumer confidence jumped the most in six years and commodity prices climbed. Futures on the S&P500 Index lost 0.1% after the gauge climbed 2.6% on Tuesday after the Conference Board’s index of US consumer confidence surged to 54.9, the biggest gain since April 2003.
Asian markets (Wed)
03:15 BST
Nikkei up 133.66 (1.44%) at at 9,444.69
Topix up 10.37 (1.17%) at 894.14
Hang Seng up 380.90 (2.24%) at 17,372.46
US markets (Tues)
S&P500 up 23.33 (2.63%) at 910.33
DJIA up 196.17 (2.37%) at 8,473.49
Nasdaq up 58.42 (3.45%)) at 1,750.43
European markets (Tues)
Eurofirst 300 up 7.43 (0.87%) at 865.14
FTSE100 up 46.43 (1.06%) at 4,411.72
Currencies
03:40 BST
€/$ 1.3995 (1.3964)
$/¥ 95.2100 (94.7800)
£/$ 1.5975 (1.5877)
Commodities
03:50 BST
Brent Crude (ICE) up $0.25 at $61.49
Light Crude (Nymex) up $0.22 at $62.67
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down $2.60 at $950.70
Copper (Comex) down $0.40 at $213.70
10-year government bond yields (%)
03:20 BST
US 3.52 (3.44)
UK 3.67 (3.73)
Germany 3.60 (3.50)
Japan 1.48 (1.45)
Sources: FT, Bloomberg