In the US, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged as expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 159 points to close at 12,447, while the
S&P500 jumped 24 points to 1,435 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 47 points
to 2,455.
In Asia today, the Nikkei closed 256 points higher at 17,419.20, while the Hang
Seng ended the morning up 237.70 points at 19,754.11.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, was up
43 cents at $60.04 a barrel from $59.61 in late US trades overnight.