Australia

Australian shares are set to edge higher in trade today. The US markets were closed for Thanksgiving.

ASX futures were up 14 points or 0.2% at 7267 as of 7:00am on Friday, pointing to a gain at the open.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was nearly flat, down 0.08% to $US85.34 a barrel, gold edged up 0.3% to US$1,755.25.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds dropped to 3.14% while the 10 Year fell to 3.54%. Overseas, the yield on 2 Year US Treasury notes declined to 4.48% and the yield on the 10 Year US Treasury notes was down at 3.69%.

The Australian dollar hit 67.61 US cents up from the previous close of 67.32. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies edged down to 98.70.

Asia

China stocks ended mixed, extending a muted trading pattern so far this week, as investors continued to assess the implications of an expanding pandemic resurgence and tighter movement curbs in the country. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2% to settle at 3089.31, while the Shenzhen Composite Index was up 0.1% at 1998.14. The tech-heavy ChiNext Price Index edged down 0.2% to 2335.52. Property stocks were among the top gainers after a host of state-owned banks said they will extend billions of dollars in funding support to several private developers.

Hong Kong shares continued to recover from a recent losing streak, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index rising 0.8% to settle at 17660.90. Chinese property developers led gains after a few state-owned banks said they will extend funding support to some companies in the industry. Country Garden soared 20% as Chinese state media reported that the real-estate giant has signed a contract with a state-owned bank for a CNY50 billion credit line.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.95% higher at 28383.09 as it caught up with Wall Street's gains after Wednesday's public holiday. Local stocks also garnered support from the FOMC's latest meeting minutes that showed most officials favored a slowdown in the pace of rate increases, analysts say. Gains on the Nikkei were led by marine transportation companies including Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, which climbed 4.0% after the Nikkei reported the company will invest at least Y100 billion in new cruise ships

Europe

European markets rose as gains for food-delivery stocks offset losses for many banks following hints that the US Federal Reserve was considering easing back on interest-rate increases.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 and French CAC 40 gained 0.4%, the English FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher and the German DAX advanced 0.9%, with HelloFresh, Delivery Hero and Just Eat Takeaway rising. Banco BPM, Bank of Ireland Group, Banco de Sabadell and Nordea Bank were among the biggest fallers.

"Wall Street stocks managed to push higher Wednesday as investors latched on to hints in the Fed minutes that policymakers were looking at slowing the pace of rate hikes," IG analysts wrote.

North America

US markets were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving.