- New York area port prepares for possible US strike disruption
- Rodri 'irreplaceable' but Guardiola confident Man City will still compete
- Brook 'relieved' as maiden ODI hundred sets up first win as England captain
- Dior's arrows and Amazons as Saint Laurent revives its master
- Mbappe strikes again as Madrid hold off Alaves
- Nkunku hits Chelsea hat-trick, Man City edge into League Cup last 16
- Amnesty calls for commission to probe Kenya protest deaths
- Bolivian government rejects Morales ultimatum for cabinet reshuffle
- US Congress calls on Novo Nordisk to lower drug prices
- Stock markets advance on China stimulus
- Russia 'can only be forced into peace," Zelensky tells UN
- Hundred hero Brook keeps England alive in Australia ODI series
- Biden pleads for democracy in final UN address
- Brook's hundred sees England beat Australia in 3rd ODI
- Alarm grows as Israel and Hezbollah exchange intense fire
- NFL legend Favre reveals Parkinson's diagnosis
- Biden urges world to 'stop arming generals' in Sudan
- Defying experts, Trump vows tariff-driven US economic boom
- Stokes open to England white-ball return
- No peak oil demand 'on the horizon', phaseout a 'fantasy': OPEC
- Sri Lanka's new leftist leader dissolves parliament, calls snap polls
- England scrum-half Mitchell to see specialist on neck injury
- Under-pressure Masood to lead Pakistan in England Tests
- Storm Helene on track to hit Florida as major hurricane
- IOC should reinstate Russia as soon it obeys rules: Samaranch
- Dior unleashes arrows and Amazons at Paris Fashion Week
- San Siro loses 2027 Champions League final due to uncertain future
- Canada's Trudeau faces no-confidence vote
- AI research uncovers 300 ancient etchings in Peru's Nazca desert
- Brazil's Lula calls Security Council makeup 'unacceptable'
- Alarm grows as Israel launches new 'extensive' strikes on Lebanon
- Carey blasts Australia to 304-7 against England in 3rd ODI
- Biden warns against clinging to power in UN farewell
- Alarm grows as Israel launches new strikes on Lebanon
- Biden warns at UN against 'full-scale war' over Lebanon
- 'Monumental step' as Thai king signs same-sex marriage into law
- French lake still riddled with bombs 80 years after World War II
- Alberta Ferretti quits as creative director at brand she founded
- Two killed in Mexico as Hurricane John weakens to tropical storm
- Multiple arrests after US woman uses machine-assisted suicide in Switzerland
- Dubois will next fight Joshua or Usyk, 'whoever pays me the most'
- Stock markets surge on China stimulus
- Lopetegui ready to learn from mistakes as Liverpool loom in League Cup
- US Fed dissenter warns inflation risks remain 'prominent'
- UN chief warns Lebanon on 'brink' as world leaders gather
- Surprise start for Libbok as Etzebeth set for Springboks record
- Ten Hag says expanded schedules make injuries 'almost unavoidable'
- Liverpool boss Slot praises Alexander-Arnold's defensive work
- Barca coach backs Pena but will debate new goalkeeper signing
- UN says tens of thousands flee Lebanon strikes
Asian markets enjoy respite from heavy selling pressure
Asian markets enjoyed some much-needed gains Thursday having so far suffered a troubled week, with sentiment lifted by a bargain-buying, a positive lead from New York and Europe, and further pledges of economic support for China's economy.
However, traders remain on high alert on a range of crises from the Ukraine war, surging inflation, central bank monetary tightening and Chinese Covid lockdowns.
The ongoing earnings season has seen a mixed bag of results that have weighed on tech firms, though there was some cheer from a forecast-beating reading by Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday, which analysts said could provide some relief to the sector. Apple and Amazon are due later this week.
Traders also took heart from a report by state broadcaster CCTV that said officials had promised to push forward more policies to lift employment.
It cited Premier Li Keqiang as saying Wednesday that stabilising the jobs market was a "key support" to keeping economic growth within a proper range.
The comments come as unemployment has jumped in recent months owing to lockdowns in key cities including Shanghai, which have been put in place to battle an outbreak of Covid but have hammered the economy and threaten global growth.
Beijing's top brass have made several announcements in recent weeks to lift sentiment. Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for an "all-out" campaign to build infrastructure, while the People's Bank of China has cut the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve in order to free up money to lend.
And Vice Premier Liu He pledged to provide stability to the stock market and support overseas share listings.
But investors remain sceptical as officials have so far provided very little of anything concrete on the policy front, with analysts saying the key obstacle for equities is the leadership's refusal to budge from its drive to eradicate Covid.
Hong Kong and Shanghai were up in early trade, while there were also gains in Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta.
However, "risk assets in general still need to navigate the consequences from what looks to be an increasingly more aggressive policy tightening by many central banks," National Australia Bank's Rodrigo Catril said.
"China's zero-Covid policy remains in place and the prospect of a protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict does not bode well for the energy prices and energy supply for Europe in particular."
And Kate Moore, at BlackRock, told Bloomberg TV: "The uncertainty factor is some of the highest we've seen in the course of the last number of years.
"There are so many crosscurrents. And against that backdrop, it's hard to see volatility come down dramatically."
Markets are gearing up for next week's major event, the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, where it is expected to lift interest rates half a point and signal further big increases through the year as it battles to rein in runaway inflation.
The prospect of borrowing costs being ratcheted up has sent the dollar soaring against its peers, sitting around a 20-year high against the yen as Japan maintains an ultra-loose monetary policy.
The greenback is also at a five-year high on the euro as the European Central Bank also refuses to follow the hawkish Fed, while the single currency is also being weighed by fears over the economy as Russia cuts off energy supplies to parts of the continent.
- Key figures at 0230 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 26,548.82 (break)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 20,108.73
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 2,976.73
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $104.27 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $101.06 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0535 from $1.0556 late Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2533 from $1.2543
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.06 pence from 84.14 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 128.67 yen from 128.43 yen
New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 33,301.93 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 7,425.61 (close)
Y.Bouchard--BTB