Shares on Wall Street were mixed, as global equities drifted towards their biggest one-month rally since November 2020 during a shortened, muted trading session in New York following the Thanksgiving holiday.
At around midday, the Dow Jones was 0.2% (60 points) higher at 35,333. The Nasdaq was down 20 points (0.1%) at 14,245. The S&P 500 was unchanged at 4,555.
European markets closed mostly higher after hitting a nine-week high. In Frankfurt, the DAX was up 0.2% (35 points) to close at 16,039. The CAC in Paris was 0.2% (15 points) higher at 7,293.
London's FTSE finished the day about 5 points higher at 7,488. In Dublin, the ISEQ closed 0.2% (18 points) lower at 8,266. Shares in insurer FBD were up 2.3% (25 cent) at €11.25. Datalex was down 4.7% (3 cent) at 51 cent.
Earlier in Asian trade, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained 173 points (0.5%) to close at 33,625 as investors took heart from the yen's slight depreciation against the dollar.
But Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 351 points (1.9%) to finish at 17,559 after the previous day's rally, despite Chinese authorities pressing ahead with moves to support the troubled property sector.
