In the US, the Dow Jones fell 0.3 per cent overnight, the S&P 500 gained 0.27 per cent, and the Nasdaq rose 1 per cent.

In Asia, Australian ASX 200 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were trading flat with a positive bias in early deals while Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 0.6 per cent. China’s central bank supplied $101 billion worth of liquidity to commercial lenders yesterday to help them manage upcoming government bond sales, while leaving the price of the money unchanged as the economy recovers.