Australia

Please note: we will be discontinuing the Global Markets Report after 28 February.

Australian shares are set to open lower, after US benchmarks saw slight gains Wednesday.

ASX futures were down 0.50% or 42 points as of 8:30am on Thursday, suggesting a lower open.

US stocks rose on Wednesday as Wall Street reacted to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting. The S&P 500 marked another closing high.

The DJIA lifted 0.2% to 44,627.59, the S&P 500 increased 0.2% to 6,144.15, and the Nasdaq gained 0.1% to 20,056.25.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 0.36% to US$76.11 a barrel, while gold was down 0.02% to US$2,935.41.

The Australian dollar was at 63.46 US cents, down from its previous close of 63.51.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8% to 3,351.54, and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.9% to 2,045.55.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.1% to 22,944.24.

Japanese shares closed lower. The Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.3% to 39,164.61.

India shares ended flat. The BSE SENSEX was unchanged at 75,939.18.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index fell 0.6% to 8,712.53.

In Europe, shares closed lower. Germany's DAX fell 1.8% to 22,433.63, and France's CAC 40 declined 1.2% to 8,110.54.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA lifted 0.2% to 44,627.59, the S&P 500 increased 0.2% to 6,144.15, and the Nasdaq gained 0.1% to 20,056.25.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Garmin Ltd GRMN surging 12.64%, Microchip Technology Inc MCHP jumped 9.90%, and Analog Devices Inc ADI lifted 9.74%.

The biggest decliners were Celanese Corp CE which dropped 21.57%, Axon Enterprise Inc AXON fell 16.33%, and Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR lost 10.64%.