Stocks on Wall Street were higher on Wednesday for a second day, as concerns eased that the Federal Reserve will begin to withdraw its stimulus early.
Economic growth for the United States was revised lower to 1.8% for the first quarter of the year, compared to an earlier estimate of 2.4%.
The Dow Jones Index closed up 1.02%, at 14,910. The SP 500 was also up more than 1% to 1604 and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.85% to 3376.
The FTSE 100 index in London was up 1.04%, the DAX in Frankfurt was up 1.66% and the CAC-40 in Paris was up 2.09%.
The Australian 200 index closed 1.6% higher to close at 4731 and the NZX 50 index climbed 1.7 percent to close 4391 points.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US95.10 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1230 per ounce, down
3.5%.
The New Zealand dollar was slightly higher on Thursday morning, buying 77.90 US cents and 83.95 Australian cents.
