Wall Street rose robustly for a second straight session on Wednesday, helped by higher oil prices and investors becoming more comfortable with the prospect of an interest rate hike as early as next month.
Combining Tuesday and Wednesday's performances, the S&P 500 gained 2 percent, its strongest two-day run since early March.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI added 0.82 percent to end at 17,851.51 points and the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.7 percent to 2,090.54.
The S&P 500 has risen about 15 percent from its February lows and is up about 2 percent for the year.
Asian shares look set to extend their recovery from 12-week lows on Thursday after renewed optimism on European banks' prospects and a rise in oil prices to near $50 a barrel helped lift global shares.
European banks .FTE3X8350ECR were leading the gains with rise of 6.8 percent in the last two sessions, benefiting from a decision by euro zone finance ministers to unlock new funds for Greece and to give it a firm offer of debt relief.
Energy stocks outperformed on the back of continued recovery in oil prices, which hit seven-month highs after the U.S. government reported a larger-than-expected drop in crude inventories.
Asia markets opened higher on Thursday, led by advances in the energy sector, after overnight gains in oil prices pushed U.S. stocks higher. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 traded up 0.75 percent, while across the Korean Strait, the Kospi was higher by 0.34 percent.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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