European markets are making major gains Wednesday, while Asian markets rebounded from a sluggish start to finish mostly higher.
The FTSE index in London is up 1.6% in the midday session, while both Paris’s CAC-40 and Frankfurt’s DAX indices are soaring 2.2% higher.
Tokyo’s Nikkei index finished its trading session 0.4% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed down 0.2%, and Shanghai’s Composite index was 0.1% lower. The S&P/ASX in Sydney soared 1.8%. Mumbai’s Sensex finished 0.4% higher. Seoul’s KOSPI index ended 0.6% higher, while the TSEC index in Taipei was down nearly four points, but was virtually unchanged percentage-wise.
In commodities trading, gold is selling at $1,964.30 an ounce, down 0.7%. U.S. crude oil is trading at $43.02 per barrel, up 0.6%, and Brent crude is trading at $45.90 per barrel, up 0.7%.
All three major U.S. indices are trending positively in futures trading ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street.