Asia stocks ended higher, following Wall Street's lead
Following Wall Street's lead, stocks in Asia enjoyed a strong session, shaking off a late slump in crude oil prices. China shrugged off a downgrade of its credit rating to "negative" from "stable" at Moody's, while exporters paced the Japan rally. The Shanghai Composite finished 4.3% higher, while Japan's Nikkei gained 4.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 3.1%, while South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.6%.
European markets are mostly higher at midday, taking cues from Wall Street and Asia. However, a drop in oil prices has most indexes off their session highs. At last check, London's FTSE 100 is off 0.3% -- on pace to snap a four-day winning streak -- while France's CAC 40 is 0.1% ahead, and the German DAX has added 0.4%.
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