Asian shares pulled ahead on Thursday

Asian shares pulled ahead on Thursday as corporate earnings and a ceasefire in northern Syria helped prop up sentiment, though the backdrop of trade and brexit uncertainties was enough to prevent a decisive shift towards riskier assets.

Asian Shares and European trades

  • MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.3%.
  • Japan’s Nikkei finishing up 0.55% after hitting a one-year high.
  • Australian shares climbed 0.3%.
  • Chinese shares did open higher but soon erased those gains with the blue-chip index easing 0.3%.
  • On Wall Street overnight, the Dow and the Nasdaq added 0.2% each while the S&P 500 gained 0.3%.
  • In early European trades, futures for the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 were up 0.1% .
  • Germany’s DAX added 0.25%.
  • London’s FTSE futures were mostly flat as were U.S. stock futures.

Currency Markets

  • Sterling paused at $1.2914 after rising 0.3% on Wednesday with Brexit developments in focus.
  • The single currency was flat at $1.1132.
  • The Japanese yen was 0.1% higher at 108.6 per dollar.
  • The Australian dollar was a tad weaker at $0.6842.
  • The dollar index was slightly lower at 97.452 against a basket of six major currencies.

Commodities

  • In commodity markets, U.S. crude eased 38 cents to $55.59 while Brent slipped 22 cents to $60.95.
  • Gold was treading water at $1,491.51 an ounce.

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