Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, with U.S. markets closed for Juneteenth.

ASX futures were down 0.2% or 18 points as of 8:00am on Thursday, suggesting a lower open.

U.S. equity and bond markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.3% to US$85.07 a barrel, while gold was down 0.1% at US$2,328.16.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was up at 3.98% while the 10 Year yield was also up at 4.18%. US Treasury notes were unchanged, with the 2 Year yield at 4.71% and the 10 Year yield at 4.22%.

The Australian dollar was 66.68 US cents, up from its previous close of 66.53. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was unchanged at 99.88.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower, dragged by consumer and software stocks. The Chinese securities regulator said earlier Wednesday that it plans to introduce eight measures to reform the Nasdaq-style tech board, the Star Market. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.4% lower at 3018.05, the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.9% and the ChiNext Price Index declined 1.3%. China Tourism Group Duty Free led the losses, falling 2.5% and Shanghai Jinjiang International Hotels lost 4.9%. Thunder Software Technology and Beijing Kingsoft Office Software declined 6.05% and 4.95%, respectively. Gold and oil stocks led the gains with CNOOC up 3.3% and Zhongjin Gold rising 3.0%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index extended early gains to close 2.9% higher at 18,430.39. There could be some optimism among investors that more may be done by the Chinese authorities in 2H, IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong says. "This also comes as the index trades at a support confluence, which may prompt some dip-buying to keep the potential trend reversal from April 2024 intact," he adds. Among the index's top gainers were Lenovo Group, which rose 9.0%, Xiaomi, which added 6.3%, and Cnooc, which was 5.8% higher. Meanwhile, Haier Smart Home lost 0.7% and WH Group shed 0.2%. The Hang Seng Tech Index climbed 3.65% to end at 3,832.32.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in auto and real-estate stocks, as concerns abated about borrowing costs. Mitsui Fudosan gained 2.6% and Nissan Motor climbed 2.5%. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.2% to 38,570.76. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell half a basis point to 0.935%, while the 20-year yield dropped 2 bps to 1.765%. Investors are focusing on any comments on the yen and monetary policy by Japanese officials.

India's Sensex closed 0.05% higher at 77,337.59, as gains in bank stocks outweighed losses in steel and utility stocks. After disappointing U.S. retail sales data, investors have raised bets that the Fed would ease rates, the UOB Global Economics & Markets Research team said in a note. Among advancers, HDFC Bank rose 3.1%, Axis Bank gained 2.9% and ICICI Bank was 1.9% higher. Among decliners, Power Grid Corp. of India lost 1.25%, JSW Steel fell 1.05% and Tata Steel was 0.6% lower.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. ended higher on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 Index rising 0.2% to 8,205.11.

In Europe, shares closed lower, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index down 0.2% to 514.13, Germany's DAX losing 0.4% to 18,067.91 and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.8% to 7,570.20.

North America

U.S. equity and bond markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday.