Overnight

The Wall Street Journal reported overnight, A week-long rally across Asian stocks hit the brakes Thursday, with investors waiting to see whether the Bank of England’s interest-rate decision would make or break further equity gains.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average remained the biggest outperformer in the region, gaining 0.4% to add to its 7.7% ascent this week. Investors’ hopes for fiscal-stimulus policies helped set the benchmark on track to scoring its best weekly performance so far this year.

The Nikkei 225  hit 16,355.30 as the average remained the biggest winner in the region, gaining 0.4% to add to its 7.7% ascent this week.The Japanese yen gained against the dollar, while the British pound weakened. The former is up by 0.4% at 104.28 per dollar, while the latter is down by 0.4% at 1.3192 reversing a trend where the yen weakened against the greenback, while the pound was stronger.

• Dow: 18,372.12 (+0.1%)
• S&P 500: 2,152.43 (+0.0%)
• Nasdaq: 5,005.73  (-0.3%)
• WTI crude oil: $45.15 (-3.5%)
• 10-year Treasury yield: 1.473 (-2.7%) 

Meanwhile, the rest of Asia traded like this: Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.2%, Korea’s Kospi was down 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged down 0.1%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3%, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index was off 0.1%. Gold held steady early Thursday, after rising as much as 1 percent in the previous session, buoyed by expectations that central banks could cut interest rates. 

Spot gold had inched up 0.2 percent at $1,345.46 per ounce by 0109 GMT. It rose about 0.9 percent on Tuesday, closing at $1,342.45, after touching a session-high of $1,345.20.
U.S. gold climbed 0.3 percent at $1,347 an ounce.