In Asian Equity Markets stocks rose Thursday, with markets in Japan and South Korea notching convincing gains. The Nikkei 225 advanced 0.83 percent as banking and other financial sector stocks advanced. Automakers were also broadly higher. South Korean stocks saw similar gains, with the benchmark Kospi up 0.72 percent. Banks and steelmakers climbed, with Posco rising 3.26 percent, but gains were capped by declines in the technology sector. Index heavyweight Samsung Electronics slipped 0.78 percent, lagging the broader index.

In Currency Markets the euro stayed near two-week highs against many of its rivals on Thursday, on rising bets the ECB may soon announce it will start winding down its massive bond purchase programme. The central bank’s chief economist Peter Praet, a close ally of President Mario Draghi, said the ECB would debate next week whether to end bond purchases later this year. The common currency last traded at $1.1781, extending its gains so far this week to 1.15 percent. The euro strengthened against other currencies, hitting a two-week high of 1.1640 Swiss franc and 129.83 yen on Wednesday.

In Commodities Markets oil prices rose on Thursday to shake off some of the previous session’s losses, supported by plunging exports by OPEC-member Venezuela. Brent crude futures  were up 33 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $75.69 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 38 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $65.11 a barrel. It ended the previous session 1.2 percent lower at $64.73 a barrel. Venezuela’s supply trouble comes amid voluntary production cuts by OPEC which have been in place since 2017 in order to tighten the market and prop up prices.

In US Equity Markets all the three major indexes added to gains late in Wednesday’s session as the S&P 500 and the Dow were boosted by financial and industrial stocks and ebbing trade-war fears while the Nasdaq was set for a fourth straight day of gains. The S&P 500 gained 0.70 percent, to 2,767.91 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.51 percent, to 7,676.76. Tesla shares jumped 7.1 percent after billionaire Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk reassured shareholders that building 5,000 of its mass-market Model 3 cars per week by the end of June was “quite likely”.

In Bond Markets Japanese government bond prices slipped on Thursday, tracking losses in global peers, although super-long maturities gained on the strong outcome of a liquidity-enhancing auction. The benchmark 10-year JGB yield edged up half a basis point to 0.050 percent. JGBs were pressured as their U.S. and euro zone peers retreated on worries that the European Central Bank would end the expansion of its massive bond purchase programme this year. The 30-year JGB yield, on the other hand, fell half a basis point to 0.720 percent.