Investing.com - Asian Pacific markets experienced a boost following a solid performance from major US indices overnight.
The S&P/ASX 200, KOSPI 200, and Nikkei 225 registered increases of 0.3%, 0.2%, and 1.3%, respectively.
In commodities, both Brent crude oil and gold saw slight decreases with the former dropping 1.2% to $US75.89 a barrel, and the latter marginally down to $US2,023. Meanwhile, iron ore closed at $US140.52 a tonne.
In the local bond market, yields on Australian 2-year government bonds rose to 3.876%, while the 10-year yield remained mostly static at 4.131%. Overseas, US Treasury notes were largely positive, with the yield on 2-year notes rising to 4.375% and the 10-year yield increasing to 4.04%.
Chinese shares continued their downward trajectory with both Shanghai and Shenzhen markets falling by half a percent. Hong Kong shares also experienced a similar dip. However, Japan's Nikkei surged over 2%, closing at its highest level since March 1990.
In Europe, share markets ended lower on Wednesday. Miners and travel stocks led the decline, each falling by around 1%, as optimism about early interest rate cuts continued to dissipate. Meanwhile, policymakers from the European Central Bank (ECB) reaffirmed the bank's policy stance, indicating that the euro zone may have been in recession last quarter with weak near-term prospects. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index dipped 0.2%. In London, the UK FTSE 100 index fell by 0.4%.
In contrast, US share markets ascended on Wednesday, bolstered by strength in mega-cap stocks. However, caution prevailed ahead of US inflation reports and significant bank earnings due later in the week, keeping investor sentiment in check. With less than an hour left of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones index was up by 208 points or 0.6%, the S&P 500 index gained 0.7%, and the Nasdaq index added 139 points or 0.9%.
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