The global equity markets are marching higher. S&P Futures are up about 33 points to trade around the 4546 area. The strength in European markets helped the S&P break out of the range established during the Asian hours. The low was set early in the session at 4517.25 while spoos are just off the high of 4547.25.
In Asia, China rose 0.8% while Japan finished 1.1% higher. The Shanghai tussled around the neutral zone for the first hour but managed to pick up a bid that was sustained the rest of the day. The price action enabled the Chinese benchmark to close near the session high. In Japan, SoftBank led the Nikkei’s rally with a gain of nearly 6%. SoftBank shares soared after announcing plans that it would aim to take Arm public following the termination of the sale to NVIDIA.
In Europe, the major bourses are all higher. The DAX is representing leadership with 29 out of the 30 stocks in positive territory. Automakers are among the best sectors with the likes of Porsche, Volkswagen and BMW trading 3-5% better. Semiconductors are also hot today with names such as STMicroelectronics and Infineon up 3-4%.