Australia

The ASX is set for a small rise at the open with Wall Street closed for Thanksgiving.

The Australian SPI 200 futures contract was up 4 points at 7,411 near 8.15 am AEST on Friday, suggesting a positive start to trading.

Derivatives trading hinted that positive sentiment persists in the wake of strong US labour market data from earlier in the week.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, pointing to the index holding on to its recent gains when US markets reopen on Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday. Nasdaq-100 futures added 0.2%.

The Australian dollar was buying 71.86 US cents near 8.00am AEST, down from the previous close of 71.93. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was flat at 90.48.

Locally, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.1% higher at 7407.3, as gains by mining stocks offset weakness among shares of financial companies.

Iron-ore miners Champion, BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue gained between 0.9% and 1.8%, although the materials sector's gains were pared by losses among gold miners.

NAB, Westpac, Macquarie, ANZ and Commonwealth banks, which between them represent more than 20% of the ASX 200's market capitalization, fell by between 0.5% and 1.45%. Wealth manager AMP gave up 5.0%.

Tech was the best performing sector, rising 2.4% following relative strength from US tech stocks.

Afterpay bounced 4.4%, while EML Payments surged 31% after investors' concerns eased over its European operations.

Gold futures rose 0.2% to $US1790.80 an ounce; Brent crude was mostly flat at $US82.22 a barrel; Iron ore was up 0.4% US$102.35.

The yield on the Australian 10-year bond moved up to 1.86%; US bond markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, the US 10-year Treasury yield last closed 1.64%.

Asia

Chinese stocks ended the session lower as sentiment dimmed following the release of the US Fed's latest meeting minutes. They showed more officials are considering raising interest rate earlier than planned. Brokerage Jinxin Futures reckons this has likely led to risk aversion among traders. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2%, while the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.3%. The ChiNext Price Index slipped 0.1%. Tourism stocks and logistics operators led the decline.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished 0.2% higher, extending Wednesday's gains, as the tech sector and property developers turned higher. Baidu added 4.5% after it obtained approval to charge fees for robotaxi services in Beijing. Alibaba Group rose 2.7% and Tencent Holdings climbed 1.2%.

The Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.7% higher, supported by some positive sentiment over Japan's decision to issue new government bonds worth about Y22 ($200 billion) trillion to fund an extra budget for the current fiscal year.

Europe

European stocks rise as miners make gains after mostly positive trading in major Asian markets. The pan-European STOXX 600 index, which tracks the performance of companies across 17 European companies rose 0.42%.

In London, the FTSE 100 index was 0.33% higher. BHP’s UK listing dipped slightly, falling 0.3%.

North America

US markets were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

International stocks were mixed in the wake of strong US labour market data and signs of greater uncertainty among central bank officials over how long it will take elevated inflation to abate.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, pointing to the index holding on to its recent gains when US markets reopen on Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday. Nasdaq-100 futures added 0.2%.

Stocks got a boost Wednesday from signs of an acceleration in the US economic recovery. Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to the lowest weekly level in 52 years. Household spending and personal income both rose. Minutes from the Federal Reserve's November meeting showed officials still expect inflation to ease in 2022, but discussed increasing the pace of tapering, as consumer-price rises may be longer-lasting than previously anticipated.

"We've certainly had a bit more hawkish messages from the Fed lately. Yet equity markets seem to trust that the Fed would only accelerate tapering if the economy is performing well," Kiran Ganesh, a multiasset strategist at UBS, said.

Crude prices wavered between small gains and losses Thursday. The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia and Russia were considering pausing planned output increases, after a group of countries led by the US and China said they would release strategic petroleum reserves.

Bitcoin edged up to around $58,600, but remained 15% down from November's record high.

French drinks maker Remy Cointreau reported that its net profit more than doubled in the first half of the year, and raised its full-year guidance. Its shares jumped 13%. Evolution shares declined over 15% after the Swedish gaming company said it was conducting an internal review regarding accusations of working with sanctioned countries. The broader pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4%.

"We favour markets where policy is likely to remain looser, like the eurozone and Japan," Mr. Ganesh said. Sentiment in Europe was boosted by reports that Germany's new coalition government had pushed back against a full lockdown, he added.