In Asian Equity Markets the Nikkei 225 traded in positive territory up 0.16 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI was largely flat.  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down by 0.53 percent, with the materials sector declining 1.33 percent. Down Under, the ASX 200 was in negative territory, down by 0.19 percent. Following the release of earnings before the market open, Santos bounced by 7.58 percent as it revived its dividend. In the airline space, Qantas Airways was down by 7.29 percent after its pre-market open announcement of a record annual underlying profit.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar broadly rose against the euro and other currencies on Thursday after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting suggested the U.S. central bank is on course to further raise interest rates. While the euro has risen for six consecutive sessions, the dollar managed to make up some of its losses against the common currency after the minutes showed Fed officials discussed raising interest rates soon to counter U.S. economic strength. The euro was down 0.2 percent at $1.1576.

In Commodities Markets U.S. oil edged up on Thursday to extend gains from the previous session, lifted by a decline in U.S. commercial crude inventories, while international crude markets were weaker due to the trade dispute between the United States and China. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures  were at $67.90 per barrel, up 4 cents from their last settlement. That followed a 3 percent jump the previous session. Brent crude oil futures were at $74.65 per barrel, down 13 cents from their last close.

In US Equity Markets stocks were mixed on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq gaining on the strength of tech stocks while the S&P 500 was little changed as it marked its longest bull-market run. Energy stocks rose 1.2 percent as oil prices jumped, while retailers gained after Target Corp and Lowe’s Companies Inc announced quarterly results. The biggest boost to the S&P 500 came from technology stocks which advanced 0.5 percent. the S&P 500 lost 0.04 percent, to 2,861.82 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.38 percent, to 7,889.10.

In Bond Markets futures traders priced in a slightly higher chance that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates two more times this year, after minutes from its latest meeting showed that U.S. central bankers discussed raising interest rates soon to counter excessive economic strength. Benchmark 10-year notes were little changed after the minutes to yield 2.823 percent, after earlier falling to 2.808 percent, the lowest since July 6. The yield curve between 2-year and 10-year notes flattened to 22 basis points, the flattest since 2007.