Australia

Australian shares are set to edge lower following a dip on Wall Street. Wednesday's decline continues a weekslong selloff in stocks. The market has experienced volatility as the Federal Reserve increased interest rates this year in an effort to tame elevated inflation.

ASX futures were down 3 points at 6798 as of 7:00am on Thursday, pointing to a slip at the open.

US stock indexes fell on Wednesday, after giving up late-session gains. The S&P 500 fell about 0.2%, the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite lost around 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined about 40 points, or around 0.1%. Wednesday's decline continues a weekslong selloff in stocks.

Economic data released on Wednesday showed signs of a strong economy, strengthening the belief that a Fed pivot is unlikely and fueling the market dip. ADP's employment report showed that the US private sector added 208,000 jobs in September, and ISM Services Index noted that growth in the US service sector held up better than expected in September. In addition, data showed that the US trade deficit narrowed to $67.4 billion in August from a revised $70.5 billion one month earlier.

Out of the 11 sectors within the S&P 500, nine sectors were down during afternoon trading, with the energy and healthcare sectors staying positive.

Stocks sold off for most of the trading day but quickly rebounded in late afternoon trading before giving up gains again. Christopher Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna International Group, said some of the turnaround could be because of the goldilocks economic data.

"If inflation can slowly roll over and economic data can stay pretty neutral, so kind of strong, then that's a positive," Mr. Murphy said.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil rose 1.83% to $US93.48 a barrel, gold edged down 0.55% to US$1,716.58.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds dropped to 3.09% while the 10 Year fell to 3.63%. Overseas, the yield on 2 Year US Treasury notes rose to 4.15% and the yield on the 10 Year US Treasury notes was up at 3.75%.

The Australian dollar hit 64.91 US cents down from the previous close of 65.01. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies edged up to 103.01.

Asia

Chinese stock markets are closed this week.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 5.9% to close at 18087.97, marking its biggest one-day gain since March 17, as investors played catch-up with the rally in global equity markets after a local holiday on Tuesday. It has been a very impressive relief rally, says Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in an email. This all hangs on whether the recent US economic data are the beginning of a weakening trend or just a blip, Erlam adds. The best performers on the HSI included Shenzhou International Group, jumping around 14%; and Anta Sports Products and Li Ning, each adding about 10%. The Hang Seng TECH Index closed 7.5% higher at 3685.51.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in electronics stocks, as concerns about the Fed's tightening have somewhat eased. Keyence gained 2.7% and Olympus Corp. climbed 2.3%. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5% to 27120.53. Investors are focusing on economic indicators, including US private-sector jobs data due later in the day, as well as any developments over the war in Ukraine.

Europe

European stocks fell in closing trade as the rally in global equities seen in recent days ended. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1%, the German DAX slipped 1.2% and the French CAC 40 shed 0.9%.

Equities are "eating into the gains of the past two sessions" as OPEC's larger-than-expected cut in oil production targets "hasn't helped the buyers to keep control," IG analyst Chris Beauchamp wrote. "The prospect of two million barrels of daily oil output being eliminated raises the specter of inflation again, just as the market began to hope that oil prices at least had calmed down.”

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.5%. OPEC's decision to make a significant cut in output spooked markets, with the move potentially leading to further price rises, Beauchamp said. The U.K. index's top fallers were Ocado Group, Next and St. James's Place, closing down 10%, 5.3% and 4.9%, respectively.

North America

US stock indexes fell on Wednesday, after giving up late-session gains. The S&P 500 fell about 0.2%, the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite lost around 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined about 40 points, or around 0.1%. Wednesday's decline continues a weekslong selloff in stocks.

Economic data released on Wednesday showed signs of a strong economy, strengthening the belief that a Fed pivot is unlikely and fueling the market dip. ADP's employment report showed that the US private sector added 208,000 jobs in September, and ISM Services Index noted that growth in the US service sector held up better than expected in September.

In addition, data showed that the US trade deficit narrowed to $67.4 billion in August from a revised $70.5 billion one month earlier.

Out of the 11 sectors within the S&P 500, nine sectors were down during afternoon trading, with the energy and healthcare sectors staying positive.

Stocks sold off for most of the trading day but quickly rebounded in late afternoon trading before giving up gains again. Christopher Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna International Group, said some of the turnaround could be because of the goldilocks economic data.

"If inflation can slowly roll over and economic data can stay pretty neutral, so kind of strong, then that's a positive," Mr. Murphy said.

Earlier in the week, investors cheered what they saw as early signs that the Fed's efforts were working. The World Trade Organization forecasted that global trade in goods would slow more sharply than previously expected next year, possibly easing inflationary pressures but raising the risk of a global recession. Data released Tuesday showed that US job openings fell by 10% in August and layoffs rose slightly. Some investors hoped a slowdown could reduce inflation and ease pressure on the Fed to keep lifting rates.

Investors have been left with few places to hide from the year's volatility, especially as safe-haven assets have declined with the greater market.

"When it's raining outside you're gonna get wet," said Dave Grecsek, managing director in investment strategy and research at Aspiriant. "We're telling investors take a rain jacket and umbrella outside."

Mr. Grecsek said he is holding high-quality stocks in the sectors related to healthcare and consumer staples. He also added that the 10-year Treasury note is becoming attractive again because of the higher yields.

Twitter shares fell 1% on Wednesday. Shares surged 22% Tuesday after Elon Musk offered to close his $44 billion deal to buy the social-media company on the terms he originally agreed to.

Energy stocks rallied. Exxon Mobil gained 4.6%, Halliburton added 4.3% and Phillips 66 advanced 2.8%.