Asian shares looked set to rise on Thursday, with futures pointing to gains in markets in Japan and Australia. That followed moves higher on Wall Street in the last session, which saw the Dow Jones industrial average close above 25,000.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were up 0.68 percent compared to the index’s previous close and Australian SPI futures were higher by 0.5 percent at the end of Wednesday.

The Dow rose 1.4 percent, or 346.41 points, to 25,146.39, marking its first close above the 25,000 level since mid-March. Boeing, which advanced 3.2 percent in the last session, contributed the most to the index’s overall gains.

Other major U.S. stock indexes also closed higher as bank stocks rose: The S&P 500 added 0.86 percent to close at 2,772.35 and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.67 percent to end at 7,689.24.

Apart from the convincing gains seen on Wall Street, investors on Wednesday also focused on the possibility of the European Central Bank’s asset purchasing program coming to an end after overnight comments from the central bank’s chief economist, Peter Praet.

Underlying strength in the euro area economy was making the central bank confident that inflation will move toward target, Praet said on Wednesday, adding that the institution would next week discuss how it will wind down its 30 billion euro (about $35 billion) monthly-purchase program.

The euro got a boost from those remarks, trading as high as $1.1796 overnight before paring some of those gains to trade at $1.1780 at 6:50 a.m. HK/SIN.

Those comments also saw European bonds sold off overnight. U.S. Treasury yields also rose on Wednesday, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield last standing at 2.97 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

Meanwhile, recent trade tensions remained in the background ahead of the G-7 summit at the end of the week. White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow, a former CNBC senior contributor, on Wednesday said President Donald Trump was trying to “fix” international trade, adding that the tensions were “disputes that need to be solved.”

On the energy front, U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled 1.2 percent lower at $64.73 per barrel. Brent crude futures were little changed at $75.26 at settlement.

Ahead, Australia trade data is scheduled to be released at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.