Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after U.S. indexes fell.

ASX futures were up 0.24% or 19 points as of 8:30am on Wednesday, suggesting a higher open.

U.S. stocks ended higher. DJIA added 0.4% to 39,331.85, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 5,509.01, and the Nasdaq gained 0.8% to 18,028.76.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.4% to US$86.24 a barrel, while gold was up 0.1% at US$2,331.14.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was up at 4.21% while the 10 Year yield was up at 4.41%. US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield down at 4.74% and the 10 Year yield down at 4.43%.

The Australian dollar was 66.65 US cents, up from its previous close of 66.59.

Asia

Chinese shares closed mixed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.1% to 2,997.01, and the Shenzhen Composite Index dropping 0.6% to 1,620.74.

Hong Kong shares closed mixed, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index rising 0.3% to 17,769.14 and the Hang Seng Tech Index dropping 0.4% to 3,539.13.

Japanese stocks ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.1% to 40,074.69.

India shares ended flat. The benchmark Sensex was unchanged at 79,441.45.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower, as the FTSE 100 Index declined 0.6% to 8,121.20.

In Europe, shares closed lower, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index losing 0.4% to 510.91, Germany's DAX down 0.7% to 18,164.06, and France's CAC 40 falling 0.3% to 7,538.29.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher.

DJIA added 0.4% to 39,331.85, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 5,509.01, and the Nasdaq gained 0.8% to 18,028.76.