Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US stocks ended higher, led by the tech sector.

ASX futures were up 0.62% or 50 points as of 8:00am on Thursday, suggesting a higher open.

US stocks reversed an early decline and ended the day near session highs following a slightly hotter-than-expected reading on inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%, the S&P 500 rose 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.2%. There were strong gains in technology shares.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 2.1% to US$70.65 a barrel, while gold was flat at US$2,511.62.

The Australian dollar was at 66.72 US cents, up from its previous close of 66.52.

Asia

Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.8% to 2,721.80, and the Shenzhen Composite Index was unchanged at 1,499.53.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped 0.7% to 17,108.71.

Japanese shares closed lower. The Nikkei Stock Average dropped 1.5% to 35,619.77.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX fell 0.5% to 81,523.16.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.1% to 8,193.94.

In Europe, shares closed mixed. Germany's DAX rose 0.4% to 18,330.27, and France's CAC 40 fell 0.1% to 7,396.83.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA added 0.3% to 40,861.71, the S&P 500 gained 1.1% to 5,554.13, and the Nasdaq increased 2.2% to 17,395.53.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were First Solar Inc, surging 15.19%, Albemarle Corp jumped 13.58%, and The AES Corp lifted 8.64%.

The biggest decliners were Humana Inc which dropped 5.26%, Conagra Brands Inc fell 4.03%, and Campbell Soup Co lost 3.84%.