In the US tonight, stocks closed sharply higher, helped by robust data and better-than-expected earnings in the technology sector.
At its unofficial close, the Dow was up 61.71 points at 11,120.68. The S&P500 rose 9.39 points to 1,289.39 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 18.20 points to 2,294.63.
In Asia today, the Nikkei closed down 330.22 points at 15,713.45, while the Hang Seng reached the midpoint off 8.38 points at the session's low of 15,442.50.
Oil prices continued higher in Asian trading hours, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, up 39 cents at $58.85 a barrel from its close of $58.46 overnight in the US.