European markets are trading higher Wednesday with investors riding on new hopes of a swift post-pandemic recovery.

The FTSE index in London has gained 0.5% in midday trading, the CAC-40 in Paris is up 0.7%, and Frankfurt's DAX index is 0.4% higher.

Asian markets ended their Wednesday trading sessions mostly higher, with Sydney's S&P/ASX index gaining 0.8% to lead the region. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended 0.5% higher, Shanghai's Composite and Seoul's KOSPI indices both gained 0.1%, and Taiwan's TSEC is 0.2% higher.

Tokyo's Nikkei index finished its trading session 0.5% lower, while Mumbai's Sensex was down 0.2%.

Oil markets are in a slump Wednesday, with U.S. crude selling at $38.09 per barrel, down 0.7%, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, selling at $40.79, down 0.4%.

All three U.S. indexes continue to trend in a positive direction Wednesday indicating a good opening for Wall Street a day after making solid gains thanks to new data showing U.S. retail sales rose a record 17.7% in May, the biggest one-month increase in history.

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