Australia

Australian shares are set to edge lower even as Wall Street gained in trade. Resilient corporate earnings helped lead US stocks to another day of strong gains. Each of the S&P 500's 11 sectors finished the day in positive territory.

ASX futures were down 37 points or 0.5% at 6745 as of 7:00am on Wednesday, pointing to a slip at the open.

US stocks rose as earnings continue to show strength and UK markets calm after an unpopular set of tax cuts were reversed.

Industrial production rose 0.4% in September from August in the US, but homebuilder confidence fell again in October.

Goldman Sachs adds 2.3% as profit and revenue fell but topped expectations. Lockheed soars 8.8% as profit rose and the defense company maintained its full-year outlook.

The benchmark S&P 500 rose 1.2%. The blue-chip Dow industrials added 1.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil slipped 1.55% to $US90.20 a barrel, gold was flat at US$ 1,651.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds dropped to 3.31% while the 10 Year fell to 3.91%. Overseas, the yield on 2 Year US Treasury notes rose to 4.43% and the yield on the 10 Year US Treasury notes was up to 3.99%.

The Australian dollar hit 63.14 US cents up from the previous close of 62.82. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies was flat at 104.22.

Asia

Chinese shares ended mixed, as property developers and software companies weakened, while pharma stocks rallied further. Market conditions are set to recover as supportive policies are implemented and stable economic growth is still the government's priority, Dongguan Securities says in a note. Property developer Gemdale Corp. lost 3.2% and AI company iFlytek dropped 2.3%. Chinese-medicine company Beijing Tongrentang advanced 5.1%, while EV maker BYD Co. gained 5.0% after forecasting a jump in 3Q profit. China Eastern Air added 2.6% after the airline announced plans to increase weekly international passenger flights. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1% to 3080.96, the Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.4% and the ChiNext Price Index rose 0.5%.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in tech and electronics stocks as hopes grow for slower policy tightening by major central banks. M3 gained 5.6% and Lasertec climbed 5.0%. Recruit Holdings advanced 5.1% following news of Y150.0 billion share buyback. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.4% to 27156.14.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.8% to close at 16914.58, tracking Wall Street higher and marking a third straight session of gains. Auto and tech sectors strengthened, while some property developers weighed. BYD Co. gained 6.2% after projecting 3Q profit to more than quadruple on year, while Geely Automobile climbed 4.4%. Tech companies recovered from Monday's losses, with Alibaba Health Information Technology jumping 9.4%, Sunny Optical Technology climbing 7.0% and Xiaomi Corp. adding 4.7%. Among decliners, Anta Sports Products slid 3.6% after its 3Q sales update. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 4.25% to close at 3336.25.

Europe

European stocks rose following better-than-expected 3Q earnings from Goldman Sachs. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 advanced 0.3%, the German DAX is up 0.9% and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.4%.

"US markets opened strongly higher after Goldman became the latest US bank to issue a decent set of 3Q numbers," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson wrote. "Third-quarter earnings saw revenues beat expectations, coming in at $11.98B, with most areas of the business outperforming."

In London, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.2% as investors continued to cheer the reversal of the U.K. government's unfunded tax-cut plans, as well as positive 3Q numbers from U.S. bank Goldman Sachs, which point to further upbeat corporate reports. "Markets are clearly more optimistic after the U.K.'s missteps provided a stark warning that an expansionary government stance would simply prolong the crisis if pitched against a central bank seeking to drive down inflation," IG analyst Joshua Mahony said in a note.

Smurfit Kappa was the session's biggest riser, up 6.3%, followed by Rolls-Royce Holdings and DS Smith, both up 3.8%. Harbour Energy was the day's biggest faller, down 4.4%, followed by Centrica and Segro, down 4.1% and 2.1% respectively.

North America

U.S. stock indexes rose on Tuesday, rallying for a second day as a combination of better-than-expected earnings and an easing of turmoil in U.K. markets lifted investors' confidence.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite moved ahead 0.9%. The moves come a day after the major indexes soared. Big swings have become commonplace for U.S. stocks, with the S&P 500 closing up or down at least 2% in the past three trading sessions. Even with some runs higher, all three indexes remain in a bear market, entered into after a drop of 20% or more from a recent high.

"When you're in the throes of a bear market, to see meaningful moves higher for stocks, you need to also see a big move in the bond markets. You need yields to meaningfully fall," said Michael Antonelli, managing director and market strategist at Baird.

That hasn't happened. Instead, the yields on U.S. government bonds have been climbing higher, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note settling above 4% for the first time since 2008 on Friday.

Investors had been bracing for a difficult earnings season, with the threats of soaring inflation, rising interest rates and flagging growth weighing on consumer spending and corporate profits. But results thus far have proved better than expected, prompting a rally for U.S. stock markets after months of declines.

"Earnings are yet to crack. Consumers seem surprisingly resilient and it feels like companies are kind of keeping their heads above water," said Altaf Kassam, head of investment strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at State Street Global Advisors. "Earnings season hasn't been the collapse that people have been worried about."

Investors will get more glimpses later in the day of how companies are faring with a batch of major earnings reports due. Netflix and United Airlines are set to report after markets close.

Goldman Sachs rose 2.5% in recent trading after it said profits fell in the recent quarter but remained above targets. Lockheed Martin's shares rose 8.8% after the defense company said its profit rose and maintained its full-year guidance.

Global markets have also gotten a boost after the U.K. government walked back an unpopular package of tax cuts and government borrowing that had raised concerns about the U.K.'s debt burden and prompted the Bank of England to intervene to stabilize bond markets.

Still, the BOE said it intends to begin selling some of its holdings of government bonds at the end of the month as planned following reports to the contrary.

Earlier, in commodity markets, oil prices slipped, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, moving down to $89.21 a barrel. Gold prices declined 0.5% to $1,649.00 a troy ounce.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged lower to 3.996% from 4.012% on Monday. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Investors say this week's positive moves in stock markets are more evidence of the volatility that has characterized the market's erratic move lower this year and likely not the start of a turnaround. "Interest rates are going to have to keep rising and central banks are still focused on inflation. The headwinds are still very much there," Mr. Kassam said.