Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US stocks closed mostly higher, with Tesla leading the S&P 500 as investors applauded better-than-expected results.

ASX futures were up 0.18% or 15 points as of 8:00am on Friday, suggesting a higher open.

In the US, a surprisingly strong earnings report from Tesla sparked a rally in the electric-vehicle maker's shares, leading tech stocks higher.

Tesla gained 22% and boosted the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 0.8%, while the S&P 500 snapped a three-day losing streak, advancing 0.2%. The blue-chip Dow industrials pulled back 0.3%, weighed down by IBM and Boeing shares.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.5% to US$74.58 a barrel, while gold was unchanged at US$2,736.11.

The Australian dollar was at 66.38 US cents, up from its previous close of 66.31.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7% to 3,280.26, and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.9% to 1,938.81.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 1.3% to 20,489.62.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.1% to 38,143.29.

India shares ended flat. The BSE SENSEX was unchanged at 80,065.16.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index added 0.1% to 8,269.38.

In Europe, shares closed higher. Germany's DAX gained 0.3% to 19,443.00, and France's CAC 40 increased 0.1% to 7,503.28.

North America

U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA fell 0.3% to 42,374.36, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 5,809.86, and the Nasdaq added 0.8% to 18,415.49.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Tesla Inc, surging 21.80%, Molina Healthcare Inc jumped 17.47%, and West Pharmaceutical Services Inc lifted 15.57%.

The biggest decliners were Newmont Corp which dropped 14.70%, Teradyne Inc fell 11.02%, and Carrier Global Corp lost 8.82%.