Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US tech stocks gained Wednesday.

ASX futures were up 0.21% or 17 points as of 8:00am on Thursday, suggesting a higher open.

US stocks and government bonds rallied on the final day of July, capping a topsy-turvy month for global markets with big gains.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.6%, its best day since February. The S&P 500 added 1.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 3.6% to US$80.84 a barrel, while gold was flat at US$2,447.75.

The Australian dollar was at 65.39 US cents, up from its previous close of 65.35.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher, boosted by securities and insurance stocks. Investors were digesting the July Politburo meeting readout, but analysts don't see immediate stimulus in the short term. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 2.1% higher at 2938.75, the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 3.3% and the ChiNext Price Index added 3.5%. Securities stocks led the gains with Cinda Securities up 9.7% and China Galaxy Securities adding 8.5%. Founder Securities was up 6.4%. New China Life Insurance and China Life Insurance rose 4.2% and 4.1%, respectively. Among the decliners, Bank of Jiangsu fell 0.5% and Bank of Hangzhou dropped 0.2%.

Hong Kong shares closed higher amid positive investor sentiment. The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended 2.0% higher at 17344.60 and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 3.0%. Investors are digesting the July Politburo meeting outcome and watching for the Fed's rate decision due later today. Tech and health stocks led the gains with Wuxi Biologics (Cayman) up 9.7% and WuXi AppTec 7.4% higher. Lenovo and Xiaomi advanced 3.7% and 3.2%, respectively. HSBC shares closed 4.6% higher after announcing a quarterly profit drop and a $3 billion buyback. Hang Seng Bank closed 5.75% lower, the top decliner on HSI, after its 1H earnings.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.5% to close at 39101.82, reversing earlier losses on possible dip-buying by investors following the Bank of Japan's monetary-policy decision. The BOJ fell short of expectations on its JGB purchase tapering plan, though it raised rates more aggressively than anticipated, says Matt Simpson, market analyst at FOREX.com and City Index, in a commentary. Among best performers on the Nikkei, Screen Holdings jumped 9.2%, Toyo Suisan Kaisha climbed 7.7%, and Tokyo Electron added 7.4%. USD/JPY was around 152.95, compared with 154.67 as of Tuesday's Tokyo stock market close. The 10-year JGB yield was 6.5bps higher at 1.060%.

Indian shares closed higher, with the benchmark Sensex rising 0.35% to 81741.34. Investors are watching the Fed rate decision due later today for more clues of a widely expected September rate cut. Steel stocks led gains, with JSW Steel rising 3.6% and Tata Steel adding 0.8%. Decliners included Infosys, which dropped 0.5%, and Tata Motors, down 0.5%.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. gained Wednesday, as the FTSE 100 Index increased 1.1% to 8367.98.

Among large companies, Rathbones Group PLC was the biggest gainer during the session, surging 7.5%, and Zegona Communications PLC surged 7.4%. Yellow Cake PLC rounded out the top three movers on Wednesday, as shares surged 6.3%.

Craneware PLC posted the largest decline, falling 3.4%, followed by shares of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, which fell 2.9%. Shares of GSK PLC fell 2.0%.

In other parts of Europe markets closed higher, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index up 0.8% to 518.18, Germany's DAX added 0.5% to 18,508.65 and France's CAC 40 rose 0.8% to 7,531.49.

North America

Stocks and government bonds rallied on the final day of July, capping a topsy-turvy month for global markets with big gains.

All three major indexes opened sharply higher, holding on to gains after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank is prepared to cut them in September if inflation keeps moving lower.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.6%, its best day since February. The S&P 500 added 1.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.

July's star performer, the Russell 2000 index of small companies, moved 0.5% higher, lagging behind other indexes after racing past them in recent weeks. The Russell soared 10% in the month, its best showing of the year.

Part of what has driven the Russell higher is a drop in government bond yields, which continued Wednesday after the Fed's decision. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.107% on Wednesday, capping its biggest monthly decline of 2024, after the Fed's decision.

Zhiwei Ren, a portfolio manager at Penn Mutual Asset Management, said he is now nearly certain of a September rate cut. Moreover, he said that Fed officials indicated they want to keep economic growth humming along.

"The market definitely likes that," Ren said.

Investors have gotten several bits of good news on the economy in recent weeks. The latest read on U.S. gross domestic product showed that growth smashed expectations in the prior quarter, while inflation has been falling steadily. Fed officials acknowledged progress in the inflation fight at their latest meeting. Next, investors will be parsing Friday's monthly jobs report for clues on how the labor market is holding up.

For much of July, traders across Wall Street were gripped by the giant rotation that shook the U.S. stock market. The anticipation of lower interest rates in coming months has turbocharged cyclical corners of the market, as well as smaller U.S. stocks, which tend to be more sensitive to borrowing costs.

The S&P 500 and Dow added 1.1% and 4.4%, respectively, for the month. The Nasdaq lost 0.8%.

Still, trading Wednesday showed that investors aren't giving up on tech behemoths just yet. Nvidia shares, the poster child for the artificial-intelligence trade, surged 13%. Micron Technology added 7.1%. Other semiconductor companies also rallied, reversing some of the sharp swoons that have punctuated trading in July.