Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US stocks edged up.

ASX futures were up 0.7% or 55 points as of 8:30am on Wednesday, suggesting a higher open.

U.S. stocks ended mostly higher Tuesday.

DJIA rose 141 points, or 0.4%, to 38,521, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 4,954 and the Nasdaq edged up 0.1% to 15,609.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil rose 0.9% to US$78.70 a barrel while gold was up 0.5% to US$2,035.62.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was up at 3.79% while the 10 Year yield was also up at 4.12%. US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield at 4.40% and the 10 Year yield at 4.09%.

The Australian dollar hit 65.24 US cents up from its previous close. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was down at 98.40.

Asia

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3.2% to finish at 2,789.49.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 4.0% higher at 16,136.87.

Japanese stocks ended lower, whe Nikkei Stock Average falling 0.5% to 36,160.66.

India's' benchmark Sensex ended 0.6% lower at 72,186.09.

Europe

European shares edged higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 up 0.6% at 486.76, DAX up 0.8% at 17,033.24 and CAC 40 up 0.7% at 7,638.97.

The FTSE 100 index closed Tuesday up 0.9% to 7,681.01 points.

North America

U.S. stocks ended mostly higher Tuesday.

DJIA rose 141 points, or 0.4%, to 38,521, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 4,954 and the Nasdaq edged up 0.1% to 15,609.