Tokyo, Jul 13 (AP) This week's Wall Street rally appears ready to extend into Thursday with bellwether companies putting up impressive numbers for the second quarter despite fears of a pullback in spending by Americans.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.2 per cent the S and P 500 ticked 0.3 per cent higher before the bell.

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Delta Air Lines jumped 4.6 per cent after it reported unprecedented quarterly profit and revenue before the opening bell.

The Atlanta carrier raised its expectations for a year after travelers took to the skies in huge numbers.

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It was a similar story for PepsiCo, which raised its full-year forecast after second-quarter results handily topped Wall Street expectations. Shares rose more than 2 per cent before the market opened.

Markets added to gains this week after the US reported Wednesday that inflation cooled a bit more than expected, to 3 per cent in June.

That's its lowest point since early 2021, thanks in part to easing prices for gasoline, airline fares, used cars and groceries.

Data on producer prices, the level of costs for goods before they reach the consumer, is due before the market opens Thursday.

High inflation has driven the Federal Reserve to jack up interest rates at a blistering pace.

Higher rates undercut inflation by slowing the entire economy and hurting investment prices, and they've already caused damage to the banking, manufacturing and other industries.

Traders remain nearly convinced the Fed will raise the federal funds rate at its meeting in two weeks to a range of 5.25 per cent to 5.50 per cent, which would be its highest level since 2001.

But expectations are also climbing for that to be the final increase after rates started last year at virtually zero.

In Europe at midday, France's CAC 40 added 0.8 per cent, Germany's DAX rose 0.6 per cent and Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.5 per cent.

In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.5 per cent to finish at 32,419.33.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 2.6 per cent to 19,350.62, while the Shanghai Composite gained 1.3 per cent to 3,236.48, even as China reported a slump in trade in June.

Chinese exports tumbled 12.4 per cent in June from a year earlier as demand weakened after central banks raised interest rates to curb inflation even as Chinese leaders struggled to keep a post-COVID recovery from faltering.

The customs data released Thursday showed imports slid 6.8 per cent, while the trade surplus rose was USD70.6 billion, rising from USD 65.8 billion in May.

“China will likely recover at some point, but we will unlikely see the Chinese growth put a severe pressure on commodity markets. That's one good news for inflation watchers,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said in a commentary.

Australia's S and P/ASX 200 added 1.6 per cent to 7,246.90. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.6 per cent to 2,591.23. The Bank of Korea left its policy rate unchanged at 3.50 per cent, as expected, but noted that the risk of inflation was accelerating again.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 10 cents to USD 75.85 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 21 cents to USD 80.32 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 138.57 Japanese yen from 138.33 yen. The euro cost USD 1.1178, up from USD 1.1128. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)