Global Stocks: U.S. indices advanced

U.S. stock indices rose on Thursday after dovish Fed meeting minutes were released.

Minutes showed that policy makers were concerned over low inflation, which had been below target level for more than three years. The Federal Reserve pursues two goals: a healthy labor market and stable inflation. Officials said that they had approached their full employment target, but they were not confident about inflation. The minutes said that that the future decision will depend on confidence in inflation.

Third quarter earnings season is expected to be weak. According to FactSet, analysts forecast that profits of S&P 500 companies fell by 4.9% in Q3. Alcoa Inc. released its report after markets closed on Thursday. The company's shares fell 5% in after-hours as earnings missed Wall Street expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 138.46 points, or 0.8%, to 17,050.75. The S&P 500 added 17.60, or 0.9%, to 2,013.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 19.64, or 0.4%, to 4,810.79.

This morning in Asia Hong Kong Hang Seng rose 1.72%, or 383.45, to 22,738.36. China Shanghai Composite Index added 0.70%, or 21.90, to 3.165.26. The Nikkei rose 1.34%, or 242.46, to 18,383.63.

Asian indices rose following gains in Wall Street.

Gains in Chinese stocks slowed down after yesterday's after-holiday rally. Japanese stocks traditionally followed the lead from U.S. markets.