- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
Stock markets rise on eve of US inflation data
Stock markets climbed Wednesday on the eve of highly anticipated US inflation data, with sentiment buoyed by easing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Oil prices extended losses on hopes of an international deal over Iran's contested nuclear programme.
Europe's travel sector was lifted by this week's outlook from German tourism giant TUI, which stated that post-pandemic holiday demand is high across all regions.
Nevertheless, investors remain cautious before Thursday's critical US inflation print for January.
Forecasts are for another pop up from the four-decade-high seven percent seen in December, while a big miss in either direction could have big consequences for markets.
- 'Markets could get jittery' -
"Inflation figures from the US ... will be a major influence on the direction of markets as the figures will be digested by the Federal Reserve in its next decision on whether to raise interest rates or not," said AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould.
"With expectations that inflationary pressures are going to get worse in the near-term, markets could get jittery as we approach the data release."
A higher reading will pile pressure on the Fed to embark on a more aggressive tightening campaign -- but a weaker figure would temper those worries.
"The inflation data has continued to rise faster than many anticipated and we're now in a situation where central banks are racing to catch up and get to grips with price pressures," said Oanda's Craig Erlam.
"Many still expect we'll see an orderly return to inflation targets over the forecast horizon with moderate rate increases but the risk of inaction becomes far greater than the alternative."
With speculation swirling over the Fed's plans to battle soaring prices, global equities have fluctuated wildly since the start of the year as traders try to position themselves for a series of interest rate hikes that are likely to begin in March.
The prospect of the removal of cheap cash -- which has pushed markets to record or multi-year highs -- has particularly hit tech firms as they are more susceptible to higher rates.
However, the sector helped New York's three main indexes to healthy gains on Tuesday, and Asia followed suit.
Hong Kong led the way, jumping more than two percent thanks to a 6.8 percent surge in market heavyweight Alibaba after Japan's SoftBank allayed fears it was planning to offload some of its huge holdings in the e-commerce giant.
Alibaba had taken a hit earlier on speculation about the share sale, which compounded the Chinese firm's woes after suffering hefty losses owing to Beijing's crackdown on the tech sector.
- Key figures around 1200 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 7,609.16 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.3 percent at 15,444.33
Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.3 percent at 7,119.25
EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.4 percent at 4,188.23
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.1 percent at 27,579.87 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.1 percent at 24,829.99 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,479.95 (close)
New York - Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 35,462.78 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1425 from $1.1415 late Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3573 from $1.3543
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.18 pence from 84.29 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 115.39 from 115.55 yen
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $90.45 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $88.95
A.F.Rosado--PC