In Europe, stock markets where the euro is the currency had a good day. Germany's DAX rose 0.4 percent to 9,040.87 while the CAC-40 in France ended 0.8 percent higher at 4,286.93. In Britain, which doesn't use the euro, the gains were more muted, with the FTSE 100 index down 0.1 percent at 6,741.69.
The positive mood carried through into the U.S. session where the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.7 percent at 15,727.84 while the broader S&P 500 index rose 0.4 percent to 1,769.37.
The greater appetite for risk that was evident in stock markets Wednesday was also evident elsewhere. In the currency markets, the euro was 0.3 percent higher at $1.3519 while in commodities, the price of benchmark New York crude rose $1.77 to $95.14 a barrel.
Earlier in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was barely changed at 23,036.94 and China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.8 percent to 2,139.61. Japan's Nikkei 225 outperformed, reversing early losses to close up 0.8 percent at 14,337.31.
Also looming, and particularly important for Asian investors, is the scheduled meeting of Chinese leaders in Beijing from Nov. 9-12 over a new blueprint for the world's No. 2 economy as its state-led growth model runs out of oomph.
____
Teresa Cerojano in Manila, Philippines contributed to this report.