Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US stocks inched higher following China's effort to stimulate its economy.

ASX futures were up 0.30% or 25 points as of 8:00am on Wednesday, suggesting a higher open.

U.S. stocks climbed to new records after China's central bank unveiled a raft of measures to support the country's weakening economy.

The S&P 500 eked out a 0.3% gain and reached another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, also setting another all-time high, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 1.7% to US$75.15 a barrel, while gold was up 1.1% to US$2,657.10.

The Australian dollar was at 68.91 US cents.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 4.2% to 2,863.13, and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 4.0% to 1,555.98.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 4.1% to 19,000.56.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average added 0.6% to 37,940.59.

India shares ended flat. The BSE SENSEX was unchanged at 84,914.04.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.3% to 8,282.76.

In Europe, shares closed higher. Germany's DAX gained 0.8% to 18,996.63, and France's CAC 40 added 1.3% to 7,604.01.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA increased 0.2% to 42,208.22, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 5,732.93, and the Nasdaq gained 0.6% to 18,074.52.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Freeport-McMoRan Inc, surging 7.93%, The Estee Lauder Companies Inc jumped 6.09%, and Las Vegas Sands Corp lifted 5.34%.

The biggest decliners were Global Payments Inc which dropped 6.46%, Visa Inc fell 5.49%, and McKesson Corp lost 4.85%.