· The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6.58 points, or 0.03%, to 26,157.16, the S&P 500 gained 10.01 points, or 0.35%, to 2,888.21, and the Nasdaq Composite added 54.97 points, or 0.69%, to 7,964.24.
Technology stocks led Wall Street slightly higher on Wednesday, as U.S. inflation data proved to be benign and the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s March meeting were unsurprising.
Core U.S. consumer prices, which strip out volatile food and energy segments, rose at the slowest annual pace in over a year, according to the Labor Department’s CPI report. The tepid inflation data further supported the Fed’s decision to suspend its three-year, interest-rate-hike campaign.
· European stocks closed slightly higher Wednesday, after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged and investors looked ahead to an emergency Brexit summit.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally up around 0.2%, with most sectors in positive territory.
· Markets in Asia traded cautiously on Thursday morning as European Union leaders and the U.K. agreed to a “flexible extension ” of the Brexit deadline till Oct. 31.
The broad MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was largely flat at 543.78, as of 9.01 a.m. HK/SIN.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was largely flat in morning trade as shares of robot maker and index heavyweight Fanuc declined 0.26 percent, while the Topix index fell 0.28 percent.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi traded fractionally higher.
In Australia, the ASX 200 shed 0.33 percent as the sectors traded mixed. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Thursday that a general election was set for May 18.
On the U.S.-China trade front, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that Washington and Beijing have “pretty much agreed on an enforcement mechanism” for when a deal is struck.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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