Leading European and Asian stock markets mostly rose Thursday, tracking more record highs on Wall Street.
Investors assessed the outlook for US interest rates, fuelled by news that president Donald Trump was considering whether to sack Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell.
The dollar rose against main rivals, also as developments over US tariffs and the earnings season influenced market direction.
鈥楿S futures are pointing to a mixed open after markets see-sawed on Wednesday after Trump suggested he could fire... Powell but later went back on the idea,鈥� noted Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.
鈥楨arnings continue to dominate with Netflix kicking off results from the tech sector鈥� Thursday. Tokyo-listed shares in the Japanese owner of convenience store giant 7-Eleven plunged after its Canadian rival pulled out of an almost $50 billion takeover bid.
Investors have walked a cautious line this week as they ascertain the trade outlook. Trump has unveiled a flurry of fresh tariff threats, with the latest being letters to scores of countries notifying them of levies of up to 15 per cent.
All three main indices in New York ended in the green Wednesday, with the Nasdaq at another record high, following a brief sell-off after it emerged Trump had raised the idea of firing Powell.
The markets recovered after the president denied he was planning such a move.
The news caused a spike in US Treasury yields amid fears over the central bank鈥檚 independence and came after Trump spent months lambasting Powell for not cutting interest rates.
The Fed鈥檚 鈥楤eige Book鈥� survey of economic conditions has meanwhile indicated increasing impacts from the tariffs, with many businesses warning they had passed along 鈥榓t least a portion of cost increases鈥� to consumers.
