World stock market: Global stocks drift higher following Wall Street rally

Global markets mostly rose Thursday after Wall Street rallied to its best day since June as pressures from the bond market relaxed a bit.

France’s CAC 40 added 0.9% in early trading to 7,314.49. Germany’s DAX gained 0.8% to 15,859.15. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 7,349.46.

U.S. shares were set to trade mixed with Dow futures slipping less than 0.1% to 34,510.00, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.6% to 4,475.25.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% to finish at 32,287.21. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5% to 7,182.10.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.3% to 2,537.68. The Bank of Korea’s Monetary Policy Board left the base rate unchanged at 3.50%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 2.1% to 18,212.17, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 3,082.24.

A major event of the week for markets is a speech later in the day by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He is speaking at a Jackson Hole, Wyoming, event that’s been the setting for major policy announcements by the Fed in the past.

The hope among traders has been that the Fed has already hiked rates for the final time this cycle and that it will begin cutting rates early next year. But such hopes have been diminishing with each stronger-than-expected report on the economy that’s come in recently.

“Shares in Asia appear set to make gains, taking cues from the positive momentum in U.S. markets,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

Stock prices that benefit from easier interest rates got some relief as the 10-year Treasury yield eased back further from its highest level since 2007 after a report suggested the U.S. economy may be cooling.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 59 cents to $78.30 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 56 cents to $82.65 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 145.29 yen from 144.79 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.0865.

This article was reported by AP