Equities markets see gains after early-week declines

Equities markets around the world saw gains on Thursday. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Sensex added 0.51 percent to 14,504.57. The Straits Times index in Singapore gained 0.64 percent to 3,538.23, while the Hang Seng index added 1.07 percent to 21,938.22 in Hong Kong. The Sydney Ordinaries gained 1.3 percent to 6,297.4. Tokyo was up as well, with the Nikkei was 0.5 percent higher to 17,932.27. The Topix index added 0.6 percent to 1,751.12, while the Mothers market of small and mid-caps gained 2.4 percent to 917.35.

European markets also saw advances. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.89 percent to 1,593.67. The IBEX gained 0.94 percent to 14,819.9 in Madrid. In Paris, the CAC-40 was 1.09 percent higher to 6,006.31, while the Dax added 1.54 percent in Frankfurt to close at 7,921.36. In London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.67 percent to 6,571.3, while the FTSE 250 gained 1.12 percent to 11,519.2.

The New York markets were higher at mid-session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.15 percent to 13,447.24. The Nasdaq Composite had added 0.44 percent to 2,66.93 and the S&P 500 was 0.25 percent higher to 1,510.13.

Crude oil prices were higher as West Texas Intermediate rose above $70 per barrel for the first time in nearly a year. Gasoline and heating oil futures in the US were also higher, but natural gas prices fell after US stockpiles were higher than they had been expected to be. Metals prices trended higher as well.

The yen was weaker after equities markets rallied, while the US dollar moved little ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, which was expected to be announced around mid-afternoon. When the announcement finally came, the Fed had held rates steady as had been expected.

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