European markets were on the rise Wednesday, spurred by investor optimism over improving chances that lawmakers in Washington were nearing agreement on a new pandemic rescue package,

Britain’s benchmark FTSE was up 0.8% at midday. The CAC-40 in France was 0.4% higher, and Germany’s DAX index rose 1.4%.

Markets in Asia also finished on a high note earlier Tuesday. The Nikkei index in Tokyo finished 0.2% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed up 0.8%. The KOSPI index in Seoul gained 0.5%. Taipei’s TSEC index closed 1.6% higher, and Mumbai’s Sensex was up 0.8%.

Singapore’s Composite index lost a quarter of one point, but was unchanged in terms of of percentage. (-0.01%).

In Australia, Sydney’s S&P/ASX index rose 0.7%.

In commodities trading, gold was selling at $1,861.30 per ounce, up 0.3%. U.S. crude oil was selling at $47.56 per barrel, while Brent crude oil was selling at $50.68 per barrel, both down 0.1%.

All three major U.S. indices were trending positively in futures trading just before Wall Street’s opening bell.

Source: Voice of America