Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, after a sell off late in the day on Wall Street.

ASX futures were down 1.0% or 74 points as of 8:30am on Thursday, suggesting a lower open.

Stocks tumbled on Wednesday as investors took profits following the market’s recent hot run, while FedEx dragged the S&P 500 lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 475.92 points, or 1.27%, to 37,082.00. The Nasdaq Composite was lower by 1.50% to 14,777.94. The S&P 500 declined 1.47% to 4,698.35, marking its worst day since September.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil fell 0.1% to US$79.15 a barrel while gold was down 0.5% to US$2,030.56.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was down at 3.79% while the 10 Year yield was also down at 4.05%. US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield at 4.35% and the 10 Year yield at 3.85%.

The Australian dollar hit 67.33 US cents down from the previous close of 67.61. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was up at 96.88.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower, with the Shanghai Composite Index dropping 1.0% to 2902.11, its lowest level so far in 2023. Market sentiment remains cautious even though Chinese officials have issued multiple stimulus measures to boost the economy. More economic support polices are needed to boost private companies, HSBC Global Research analysts wrote in a note.Investment banks and software companies led losses. Founder Securities lost 10%, the daily trading limit. China International Capital Corp. and Huatai Securities fell 3.3% and 2.7%, respectively. Beijing Kingsoft Office Software was down 3.7%. Among the few gainers, Zijin Mining rose 1.9% and Bank of China advanced 0.5%. China Shenhua Energy gained 0.75%. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 1.2% and the ChiNext Price Index fell 1.4%.

Hong Kong shares closed higher, following overnight gains on Wall Street. Recent attempts by U.S. Federal Reserve officials to downplay rate-cut prospects failed to damp market optimism, market strategist Jun Rong Yeap at IG wrote in a note. Country Garden Services led gains, rising 5.2%. Tech companies JD.com and Alibaba advanced 3.3% and 2.65%, respectively. Alibaba earlier said CEO Eddie Wu will take charge of company's e-commerce business, effective immediately. Among decliners, China Mengniu Dairy was down 1.7% and WH Group dropped 1.4%. Hang Lung Properties lost 1.1%. The benchmark Hang Seng Index was 0.7% higher at 16613.81 and the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.5%.

The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.37% to close at 33675.94 as risk appetite remained strong on fading worries over higher global interest rates. The Bank of Japan's dovish views boosted USD/JPY, which also supports stocks of export-led companies. Automobile and technology stocks remained in demand, with Toyota Motor adding 0.1%, Nissan Motor rising 2.7%, and Honda Motor climbing 2.8%. Sony closed 0.2% higher among consumer-related stocks, while Panasonic gained 1.5%. The USD/JPY is marginally down 0.1% at 143.74.

India shares ended lower, with nearly all constituents of the benchmark Sensex in the red amid consolidation after the index hit record levels recently. Power and utility stocks led the losses. Power Grid Corp. of India dropped 2.9% and Tata Power was 4.7% lower. Adani Energy Solutions fell 7.1% and JSW Energy dropped 6.05%. Tata Steel and NTPC were the worst performers on the benchmark index, falling 4.2% and 3.8%, respectively. HDFC Bank gained 0.2% and AU Small Finance Bank was 3.9% higher. The Sensex fell 1.3% to 70506.31.

Europe

European stocks traded mixed as US stocks tread water amid continued uncertainty about the outlook for global interest rates. The Stoxx Europe 600 and CAC 40 gained about 0.2% and the DAX traded flat, though the FTSE 100 rallied 1.1% after lower-than-expected UK inflation sparked fresh speculation about Bank of England rate cuts next year. Brent crude rose 1.2% to $80.20 a barrel, boosting oil shares. "Fed officials have been downplaying the extent of dovishness in last week's decision, with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee becoming the latest to suggest the market was getting ahead of itself and pricing in too many Fed cuts next year," Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, wrote.

The FTSE 100 Index closed Wednesday up 1% at 7715 points, in line with global peers despite a fall among miners, as signs of easing U.K. inflation increased hopes of interest-rates cut next year, Scope Markets chief market analyst Joshua Mahony says in a note. The markets are now pricing a 75% chance of a rate cut by the Bank of England in May, compared with previous expectations of 55%, he adds. Intertek outperformed the blue-chip index, with shares closing up 3.7%, followed by real-estate investment trust Segro and IMI, up 3.2% and 2.9%, respectively.

North America

Stocks tumbled on Wednesday as investors took profits following the market’s recent hot run, while FedEx dragged the S&P 500 lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 475.92 points, or 1.27%, to 37,082.00. The Nasdaq Composite was lower by 1.50% to 14,777.94. The S&P 500 declined 1.47% to 4,698.35, marking its worst day since September.

“Markets were becoming overbought, and a pullback like this is natural given those conditions,” said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “So it was more technical than fundamental.”