8:00AM European markets advanced at mid-day on strong earnings.
European markets advanced at mid-day trading, lifted by gains in oil and chemicals companies. Shares of oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and Total rose by 1% and 1.3% respectively, reflecting stronger-than-expected earnings. Upbeat Q1 results from chemicals company BASF sent the stock up 1.8% to provide support to the market sentiment. Investors were somewhat cautious ahead of interest-rate decisions by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. The euro fell 0.2% to $1.2595. Among decliners, Swiss bank UBS fell 1%, Anglo-Dutch Unilever dropped 2.4%, and French advertising group Publicis lost 1.7%. The German DAX 30 rose 0.6%, the French CAC 40 gained 0.3%, and London FTSE 100 added 0.2%.


7:30AM Taiwan index rose on tech stocks, but Asian markets finishes mixed.
Asian markets finished mixed. Taiwan benchmark ended 1.4% higher, at 7345.04, continuing its rally since April. Being the most heavily weighted share on the stock index, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing was the market leader, closing up 1%. United Microelectronics advanced 0.9% and telephone handset maker, High Tech Computer was up 3%. Financial stocks were led by Chinatrust Financial Holdings, which gained 6% on better consumer credit outlook. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.2% to close at 16989.76, gaining only in utilities and property stocks. China Mobile, the country’s top cellular service, reversed the trend to advance 0.8%. Beijing Enterprise Holdings dropped 2.9% after an agreement of the principal shareholder to $826.5 million worth of old shares. HSBC declined slightly 0.1%, after hitting an all-time high on Wednesday. Seoul’s benchmark Kospi advanced 0.4% to close at 1441.02. Singapore’s benchmark, Straits Times Index, shed 0.56% and New Zealand’s benchmark dropped 2% and was the big decliner in the region. The dollar stood at 113.92 yen, gaining as much as 0.4% from the level in New York at close.