Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after a mixed session on Wall Street.

ASX futures were up 1.0% or 72 points as of 8:30am on Friday, suggesting a higher open.

U.S. stocks ended broadly higher despite some losses in big cap tech shares, lifting the S&P 500 to a new closing high.

DJIA gained 348 points, or 0.9%, to 38773, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 5029 and the Nasdaq added 0.3% to 15906.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil rose 1.6% to US$82.88 a barrel, while gold was up 0.6% to US$2,004.65.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was down at 3.81% while the 10 Year yield was also down at 4.13%. US Treasury notes were mixed, with the 2 Year yield unchanged at 4.58% and the 10 Year yield down at 4.24%.

The Australian dollar hit 65.20 US cents up from its previous close of 64.89. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was down at 98.60.

Asia

China markets were closed for the lunar new year holidays.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4% to close at 15944.63, reversing earlier losses, led by gains in consumer-related names. Hong Kong's secretary for culture, sports and tourism Kevin Yeung said overnight that visitor arrivals to the city during the Lunar New Year holidays had continued to recover. Among advancers, Li Ning rose 5.6%, ANTA Sports gained 1.9% and Shenzhou International was 1.4% higher. Among losers, Wuxi Biologics lost 1.9%, ENN Energy was down 1.6% and New World Development shed 1.3%.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.2% to close at 38157.94, tracking Wall Street's performance overnight with technology and conglomerate stocks supporting the index. Sentiment was also helped by news that Japan's GDP grew 1.9% in 2023, improving from the 1.0% expansion the previous year, despite some weakness in 4Q. The stocks that gained include Rakuten, which closed nearly 16% higher. Among conglomerates, Sumitomo Corp was up 0.6%, Mitsui and Co. gained 0.8%, and Mitsubishi Corp. up 1.6%. Index heavyweight SoftBank Group was 3.6% higher.

India's Sensex edged 0.3% higher to close at 72050.38, tracking Wall Street's gains overnight. Market participants seem to have quickly digested the U.S. inflation report, collected their thoughts and adopted a dip-buying stance, Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, says in an email. Among the best performers on the benchmark index, Mahindra & Mahindra climbed 6.5%, NTPC rose 3.6% and Power Grid Corp. of India added 2.8%. Meanwhile, Axis Bank fell 2.1%, ITC lost 1.85% and Hindustan Unilever shed 1.6%.

Europe

European shares rose as gains for automotive and defense stocks offset losses for banks. The Stoxx Europe 600 advanced 0.7%, the DAX rallied 0.6% and the CAC 40 gained 0.9%. Car makers Stellantis and Renault and defense groups Safran and Rheinmetall were among the biggest risers, while Banco BPM and AIB Group were among the largest fallers. "The U.K. fell into recession at the back end of last year and projected growth for 2024 is feeble enough that there may be further contraction to come," Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, wrote.

The FTSE 100 closed 0.38% higher on Thursday at 7,597.53 points as global stocks showed resilience despite data showing that the U.K. and Japan fell into recessions in the fourth quarter. The print suggests that central banks will be quicker to decide to cut interest rates which is good for equities. "The stock market is a forward-looking weighing machine, and so a 2023 recession doesn't materially change the prospects for companies in the future," AJ Bell's head of investment analysis Laith Khalaf writes in a market comment. "It's notable that the FTSE 100 reaction following the news of the economic contraction was in fact positive, which tells us that recession is water off a duck's back for U.K. investors," Khalaf adds.

North America

U.S. stocks ended broadly higher despite some losses in big cap tech shares, lifting the S&P 500 to a new closing high.

DJIA gained 348 points, or 0.9%, to 38773, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 5029 and the Nasdaq added 0.3% to 15906.

Energy was the best performing sector, gaining 2.5%, as oil climbed on geopolitical worries, while Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia all fell.

Economic data are mixed, with jobless claims coming in lower than expected, while retail sales fell in January.

The dollar weakened and the 10-year Treasury yield declined 0.027 percentage point to 4.239%.