NEW YORK, New York - World stock markets closed mostly higher on Thursday, driven by broad-based gains on Wall Street and in Europe, though major indexes in Japan and China posted sharp losses to end the session.

In the United States, all three benchmark indices advanced.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 56.99 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 7,501.24.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 370.26 points, or 0.75 per cent, finishing at 50,063.46.

The NASDAQ Composite led the charge, climbing 232.88 points, or 0.88 percent, to end at 26,635.22.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite index rose 226.84 points, or 0.67 percent, to 34,268.27.

The FTSE 100 in London added 47.58 points, or 0.46 percent, to settle at 10,372.93.

European markets also finished firmly in the green.  Frankfurt's DAX P surged 319.45 points, or 1.32 percent, closing at 24,456.26. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 74.30 points, or 0.93 percent, to 8,082.27. The broader EURO STOXX 50 I outperformed, jumping 126.51 points, or 2.18 percent, to 5,934.96, while the Euronext 100 Index gained 19.28 points, or 1.07 percent, ending at 1,827.55.

Elsewhere in Europe, the BEL 20 in Brussels added 23.63 points, or 0.43 percent, finishing at 5,532.41.

Asian-Pacific markets were mixed. The HANG SENG INDEX in Hong Kong closed virtually flat at 26,389.04, up just 0.60 points, or 0.00 percent.

The day's biggest losses came from Asia's largest economies. China's SSE Composite Index dropped 64.65 points, or 1.52 percent, to close at 4,177.92. Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled 618.06 points, or 0.9 percent, ending the session at 62,654.05.

South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index advanced 137.40 points, or 1.75 percent, to 7,981.41, while Taiwan's TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock Index gained 377.25 points, or 0.91 percent, closing at 41,751.75.

The STI Index in Singapore slipped 8.02 points, or 0.16 percent, to 4,995.94.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up 10.30 points, or 0.12 percent, to 8,640.70, while the ALL ORDINARIES rose 4.00 points, or 0.05 percent, to 8,884.70.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 INDEX GROSS declined 37.99 points, or 0.29 percent, settling at 13,025.07. 

In Southeast Asia, India's S&P BSE SENSEX posted a solid gain of 789.74 points, or 1.06 percent, closing at 75,398.72.

However, Indonesia's IDX COMPOSITE fell sharply, losing 135.58 points, or 1.98 percent, to end at 6,723.32. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 0.73 points, or 0.04 percent, to 1,745.58.

In Middle East markets,  Israel's TA-125 added 18.74 points, or 0.43 percent, ending at 4,404.52.

In Africa, South Africa's Top 40 USD Net TRI Index fell 21.78 points, or 0.30 percent, to 7,160.69.

Trading volumes varied, with the S&P 500 seeing 2.968 billion shares change hands and the Nasdaq recording 8.212 billion trades.

Thursday Foreign Exchange Market Update: U.S. Dollar  Continues to Strengthen as Euro, Pound, Yen Slide

Foreign exchange traders navigated a volatile session on Thursday, with the U.S. dollar showing a mixed performance against major peers as key pairs reacted to shifting geopolitical concerns, interest rate expectations, and economic data.

The euro retreated against the dollar, with the EUR/USD pair trading at 1.1669, down 0.36 percent from the previous close. The single currency moved within a daily range of 1.1710 to 1.1668, pressured by concerns over slowing eurozone growth.

Sterling posted steeper losses. GBP/USD last changed hands at 1.3397, a decline of 0.93 percent. The pair hit a session low of 1.3395 after touching a high of 1.3532, as traders digested downbeat UK retail sales figures.

The Japanese yen fell notably against the greenback. USD/JPY fell to 158.37, down 0.32 percent, after reaching an intraday peak of 158.38. 

The Swiss franc weakened, with USD/CHF rising 0.24 percent to 0.7838. The pair traded between 0.7807 and 0.7839.

The Canadian dollar lost ground against its U.S. counterpart. USD/CAD climbed 0.14 percent to 1.3726, hovering near a session high of 1.3737 as oil prices pared early gains.

In the antipodean space, the Australian dollar slipped 0.55 percent to 0.7218, while the New Zealand dollar fell 0.41 percent to 0.5912. Both currencies faced headwinds from weaker commodity prices and a broadly stronger dollar.

Meanwhile, the offshore Chinese yuan traded at USD/CNY 6.7851, little changed on the day as the People's Bank of China kept its daily fix largely stable.

(This report incorporates quotes retrieved with the assistance of artificial intelligence).

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