World News | Stock Market Today: World Shares Track Wall Street Rally, Tokyo's Benchmark at 33-year High

Bangkok, Jun 16 (AP) Shares advanced in Europe and Asia on Friday after a broad-based rally on Wall Street.

US futures were little changed and oil prices wobbled lower after gaining more than 3per cent on Thursday.

Also Read | Chinese President Xi Jinping Meets Bill Gates in Beijing, Calls Him 'American Friend'.

Germany's DAX added 0.2 per cent to 16,328.40 and the CAC 40 in Paris surged 0.6 per cent to 7,337.98. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.2per cent at 7,642.77.

The future for the S and P 500 gained 0.2 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged less than 0.1 per cent higher.

Also Read | US Shocker: Finance Executive Raped Teen by Overdosing Her on Cocaine and Ketamine After Targeting Her on Instagram.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closed at a 33-year high after the Bank of Japan wrapped up a policy meeting by keeping its ultra-lax monetary stance unchanged, as expected.

It is a standout among central banks, most of which have sought to rein in inflation by raising interest rates.

The key Japanese rate has stayed at minus 0.1per cent for a decade and policymakers have indicated they are not convinced that current inflation, which finally has surpassed the BOJ's target of about 2per cent, will be sustained.

“With extremely high uncertainties surrounding economies and financial markets at home and abroad, the Bank will patiently continue with monetary easing while nimbly responding to developments in economic activity and prices as well as financial conditions,” the BOJ said in a statement.

Share prices in Japan have been trading around their highest level in more than 30 years, while the Japanese yen has weakened against the dollar and other major currencies — reflecting the gap in interest rates in Japan and elsewhere.

The Nikkei gained 0.7 per cent to 33,706.08, while the dollar rose to 141.00 yen from 140.29 yen late Thursday.

Investors also were encouraged by moves in Beijing to support the faltering recovery from the disruptions of the pandemic with more government spending and a slight easing of credit.

“It seems China's policymakers have had enough and are unwilling to sit idle and watch consumer sentiment crumble,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

“The leadership is planning major steps to revive the country's flagging economy, including the possibility of billions of dollars in new infrastructure spending and looser rules to encourage property investors to buy more homes.”

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.1 per cent to 20,040.37. The Shanghai Composite index was up 0.6 per cent at 3,273.33.

In Seoul, the Kospi advanced 0.7 per cent to 2,625.79. Bangkok's SET shed 0.3 per cent and India's Sensex jumped 0.8 per cent.

Australia's S and P/ASX 200 gained 1.1per cent to 7,251.20.

On Thursday, the S and P 500 rallied 1.2 per cent to 4,425.84, it's highest level since April 2022. The Dow gained 1.3per cent and the Nasdaq climbed 1.2 per cent.

A report showed sales at US retailers unexpectedly strengthened last month, suggesting spending by consumers is holding up despite higher interest rates on credit cards and other borrowing. Economists were forecasting a drop.

A separate report said slightly more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected.

That's still relatively low, but could signal the job market is finally starting to loosen after the Fed's barrage of rate hikes since early last year.

The market is still absorbing the Federal Reserve's warning from a day earlier that it could raise interest rates two more times this year in its battle against inflation.

It's already hiked its benchmark rate to the highest level since 2007, which has helped slow inflation somewhat but has also caused severe pain in some areas of the economy.

The US stock market has leaped nearly 24 per cent since hitting a bottom last October, as the economy has so far avoided a recession and inflation has fallen from its peak last summer.

Traders expect the Fed's to raise rates again at its next meeting, on July 25-26 but are mostly convinced that will be the last increase of the year, according to data from CME Group.

In other trading Friday, US benchmark crude oil gave up 34 cents to USD 70.28 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It surged USD 2.35 on Thursday to USD 70.62 per barrel.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 28 cents to USD 75.39 per barrel.

The euro fell to USD 1.0945 from USD 1.0946. (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)