A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Rae

Wee

Asian markets rallied on Thursday, defying weakness

overnight on Wall Street as optimism over China's latest

stimulus measures got a fresh boost from news of a possible

capital injection into its top banks.

Authorities are considering a $142 billion infusion to

help big lenders, Bloomberg News reported, just two days after

policymakers announced a series of measures intended to pull the

country out of its deflationary funk.

While the latest moves point to a sense of urgency among the

authorities as Beijing's 5% economic growth target for the year

starts to slip out of sight, investors saw reason to cheer.

After months of seemingly futile waiting by the markets,

Chinese authorities finally appear to be waking up to the idea

that a lot more needs to be done to get the world's

second-largest economy back on track.

China's blue-chip index reversed early losses to

trade higher after the latest news report, while Hong Kong's

Hang Seng Index rose about 2%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

scaled a more than two-year peak.

That set the tone for a strong opening in Europe, with

futures posting solid gains during the Asian session.

China aside, the day was already shaping up to be a busy one

for global markets with a rate decision by the Swiss National

Bank (SNB) due alongside a series of speeches by Federal Reserve

and European Central Bank officials.

The SNB is expected to ease rates by 25 basis points,

marking its third straight meeting of cuts.

Needless to say, the focus will be on policymakers' guidance

on their respective rate outlooks, with those at the ECB likely

to maintain a less hawkish posture on rate cuts compared with

their U.S. counterparts.

Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:

- Swiss National Bank rate decision

- Speeches by Fed, ECB policymakers

- U.S. weekly jobless claims