Oil markets have been choppy, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signalled he was ready to advance a U.S.-backed peace plan, paving the way for a relaxation of sanctions on Russian energy and additional supplies, sending oil prices tumbling to a five-week low on Tuesday.
But Brent crude futures rebounded 0.4% to $62.72 after U.S. President Donald Trump backed away from a Thursday deadline for Ukraine to agree. Trump also shrugged off a Bloomberg News report that U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff coached the Russians on how to approach him on the topic.
None of that confusion and volatility troubled equity markets, which enjoyed a broad rebound following cues from Wall Street after the S&P 500 rose for a third consecutive day.
On Wednesday, MSCI's broadest gauge of shares outside of Japan, jumped 1% as traders firmed up expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month, while the Nikkei 225 surged 2% on optimism about corporate earnings.
But Hong Kong and China lagged gains, with the Hang Seng Index up 0.5% after earnings from AI front-runner Alibaba that beat estimates, but still left shares down 1.1% as the e-commerce company underwhelmed investors with its Q4 guidance and said it would decrease spending on its instant commerce business - prompting a 6% gain for rival Meituan.
