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• Stocks in Europe rallied on Wednesday morning as investors took note of a rebound on Wall Street and digested further corporate earnings.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 1.8 percent, with all sectors trading in positive ground. Financial services was the top performer, following news that the U.K.'s competition watchdog cleared CME's deal to buy Nex. Basic resources and oil stocks were also among the best performers in early deals.
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• Asian stocks clawed up from 20-month lows on Wednesday amid pledges by China to support its markets, but investor confidence was brittle after equity markets bled trillions of dollars in a grim October.
A confluence of factors ranging from Sino-U.S. trade tensions to worries about global economic growth, higher U.S. interest rates and company earnings have spurred volatility in financial markets in the past few weeks.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 percent, drawing support from gains on Wall Street overnight. Yet it was on track to fall around 11 percent this month, which would be its worst monthly performance since September 2011.
The index had dropped to its lowest level since February 2017 on Monday as worries over corporate profits weighed heavily on U.S. equities.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1 percent on Wednesday and the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.2 percent as weaker-than-expected factory activity data reinforced views that Beijing will roll out more support measures for the economy.
Australian stocks ended 0.4 percent higher, South Korea’s KOSPI added 0.7 percent.
In Japan, the Nikkei advanced 2.2 percent, reassured by the Bank of Japan’s signal that it will keep its ultra-easy policy for some time to come.
• Japan’s Nikkei bounced to a one-week high on Thursday as chip-related stocks surged in line with their U.S. counterparts, while first-half earnings from firms such as Sony and Honda supported sentiment.
The Nikkei share average rose 2.2 percent to 21,920.46, the highest closing level since Oct. 24.
Analysts said investors are taking heart from strong forecasts from Japanese manufacturers, easing worries about a hit to earnings from the heated U.S.-China trade dispute.
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