Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US stocks posted modest gains as the consumer price index ticked higher in October.

ASX futures were up 0.35% or 29 points as of 9:00am on Thursday, suggesting a higher open.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up, while bitcoin prices topped $90,000 for the first time.

The latest read on inflation showed consumer prices rose 2.6% from a year earlier, in line with economists' expectations. Core inflation, at 3.3%, also matched forecasts.

Traders ramped up bets on another Fed rate cut after the report. Futures prices implied a roughly four-in-five chance that the Fed will deliver its third rate cut of the year in December, up from a probability of less than three-in-five a day earlier, CME Group data showed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%. The S&P 500 eked out a slim gain of less than 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 0.1% to US$71.95 a barrel, while gold was down 1.0% to US$2,572.98.

The Australian dollar was at 64.83 US cents, down from its previous close of 65.32.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5% to 3,439.28, and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.2% to 2,119.77.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 0.1% to 19,823.45.

Japanese shares closed lower. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.7% to 38,721.66.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX dropped 1.3% to 77,690.95.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index gained 0.1% to 8,030.33.

In Europe, shares closed lower. Germany's DAX slipped 0.2% to 19,003.11, and France's CAC 40 lost 0.1% to 7,216.83.

North America

U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA rose 0.1% to 43,958.19, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 5,985.38, and the Nasdaq fell 0.3% to 19,230.74.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Warner Bros. Discovery Inc, surging 5.31%, Albemarle Corp jumped 5.24%, and West Pharmaceutical Services Inc lifted 5.05%.

The biggest decliners were Monolithic Power Systems Inc which dropped 6.63%, Super Micro Computer Inc fell 6.31%, and Amentum Holdings Inc lost 5.12%.