Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, after US benchmarks lost ground.

ASX futures were down 0.6% or 44 points as of 8:30am on Friday, suggesting a lower open.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 40000 points for the first time on Thursday, 873 trading days since the index first closed above 30000 in November 2020.

By market close, though, the Dow had lost its momentum, and it ended the day about 131 points shy of that milestone. The index shed 0.1%, or 38.62 points on the session. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite also lost steam, ending the day down 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 0.6% to US$83.27 a barrel, while gold was up 0.1% at US$2,378.17.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was down at 3.89% while the 10 Year yield was also down at 4.18%. US Treasury notes were up, with the 2 Year yield at 4.80% and the 10 Year yield at 4.37%.

The Australian dollar was 66.75 US cents, down from its previous close of 66.76. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was up at 99.15.

Asia

Chinese shares ended higher as more local governments roll out property-sector stimulus measures. Market expectations are rising over the likelihood of governments stepping in to buy up China's excess housing after Dali and Hangzhou said they will turn surplus units into public housing. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.1% higher at 3122.40, while the Shenzhen Composite Index and the ChiNext Price Index each rose 0.3%. Property and bank stocks led gains. China Vanke advanced 5.8% and Bank of Ningbo was up 4.0%. Poly Developments & Holdings rose 3.1%. Power stocks led losses. Trina Solar was down 1.95% and Huaneng Power International dropped 2.1%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.6% to close at 19376.53, lifted by positive sentiment in the Chinese property sector. Renewed hopes that government entities in China are moving to help revive the sector likely boosted stocks. While there is uncertainty around the implementation details, property developers' and related value chain companies' share prices should see sustained momentum in the short run, Nomura research analysts said in a note. Longfor Group surged 11%, China Construction Bank rose 6.1% and Country Garden Services gained 5.8%. Among decliners, Techtronic Industries fell 5.4%, Alibaba Group lost 3.6% and Li Auto was down 2.7%.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in electronics and brokerage stocks, as easing U.S. inflation keeps hopes for Fed rate cuts later this year intact. Tokyo Electron Ltd. gained 4.5% and Nomura Holdings climbed 3.2%. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.4% to 38920.26. USD/JPY was at 154.17, compared with 154.88 as of Wednesday 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Investors are focusing on economic data and their policy implications. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield was down 3 basis points at 0.920%.

Indian shares ended higher, tracking gains across regional markets. Investors cheered the U.S.'s easing inflation and weaker-than-expected retail sales data in April. "The combination of slowing inflation and activity data led to building rate-cut expectations," OCBC said in a note. Mahindra & Mahindra was the best performer on the benchmark index, rising 3.05% after its upbeat 4Q results. Tech stocks rose broadly, with Wipro up 1.4% and Tech Mahindra rising 2.7%. Among bank stocks, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank added 1.5% and 1.1%, respectively. The benchmark Sensex closed up 0.9% at 73663.72.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. slipped Thursday, as the FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.1% to 8438.65.

Among large companies, Sage Group PLC posted the largest decline, dropping 9.4% to GBP1,084.50, followed by shares of EasyJet PLC, which dropped 6.0% to GBP497.70. Shares of ConvaTec Group PLC fell 4.1% to GBP255.40.

Watches of Switzerland Group PLC was the biggest gainer during the session, surging 20% to GBP405.00, and Future PLC surged 18% to GBP1,030.00. BT Group PLC rounded out the top three movers on Thursday, as shares surged 17% to GBP132.60.

In Europe, the STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2% to 523.62, Germany's DAX dropped 0.7% to 18,738.81 and France's CAC 40 lost 0.6% to 8,188.49.

North America

The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 40000 points for the first time on Thursday, 873 trading days since the index first closed above 30000 in November 2020.

By market close, though, the Dow had lost its momentum, and it ended the day about 131 points shy of that milestone. The index shed 0.1%, or 38.62 points on the session. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite also lost steam, ending the day down 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

A breather was probably due after an extended rally this month that was driven by hopes of a soft landing. Evidence from the latest spate of economic data makes it hard to ignore the possibility of a surprise cut from the Fed in the summer, writes Heard's Aaron Back.

The top performer on both the Dow and the S&P 500 was Walmart, which gained 7% after reporting healthy top and bottom-line growth. Walmart is best known for every-day low prices, but shoppers are also increasingly gravitating to Walmart for convenience, as Heard's Jinjoo Lee writes.

The second top performer on the S&P 500 was insurer Chubb, which rose 4.7% after it emerged that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had amassed a sizable stake in the company. What does Buffett see in Chubb? The answer might be in the company's underwriting performance, according to Heard's Telis Demos.

Meanwhile, more air came out of the meme-stock bubble on Thursday, with GameStop and AMC Entertainment shedding 30% and 15%, respectively.