Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US stocks closed higher on robust earnings and upbeat corporate outlooks.

ASX futures were up 0.72% or 60 points as of 8:00am on Thursday, suggesting a higher open.

Gains by banks and airlines helped U.S. stocks advance despite a pullback in many of the big tech shares.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.3%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 0.4% to US$74.53 a barrel, while gold was up 0.4% to US$2,673.83.

The Australian dollar was at 66.64 US cents, down from its previous close of 67.02.

Asia

Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1% to 3,202.95, and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 0.5% to 1,842.16.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.2% to 20,286.85.

Japanese shares closed lower. The Nikkei Stock Average dropped 1.8% to 39,180.30.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX lost 0.4% to 81,501.36.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index added 1.0% to 8,329.07.

In Europe, shares closed lower. Germany's DAX fell 0.3% to 19,432.81, and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.4% to 7,492.00.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA rose 0.8% to 43,077.70, the S&P 500 added 0.5% to 5,842.47, and the Nasdaq gained 0.3% to 18,367.08.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were United Airlines Holdings Inc, surging 12.44%, Delta Air Lines Inc jumped 6.81%, and Morgan Stanley lifted 6.48%.

The biggest decliners were Agilent Technologies Inc which dropped 3.78%, KLA Corp fell 3.55%, and Mettler-Toledo International Inc lost 3.37%.