Nikkei 225, ASX, Hang Seng Index

Asia-Pacific markets rose on Thursday following strong bank earnings on Wall Street in a choppy trading session.

Investors have been nervous as global trade tensions have increased recently. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), known by many as Wall Street’s fear gauge, has trended upwards over the past week, rising above 21.6 last Friday, its highest level since late May. The index finished Wednesday at 20.6.

Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 rose 0.16%. Investors will look at the country’s September employment data, which will be released later in the day. Economists polled by Reuters expect the unemployment rate to rise to 4.3% from 4.2% in August.

Japan’s reference point Nikkei 225 While the index increased by 0.95 percent, the Topix index increased by 0.8 percent.

South Korea’s Kospi index rose 1.09%, while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 0.2%.

of hong kong Hang Seng Index Futures contracts would open lower, trading at 25,848 compared to the index’s previous close of 25,910.6.

US stock futures were little changed in early trading in Asia after major banks reported falling earnings as the Washington government shutdown entered its third week and escalating trade tensions with China continued.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day little changed, down 17.15 points, or 0.04%, at 46,253.31. At one point during the day, the 30-stock index rose as high as 422.88 points.

The S&P 500 closed at 6,671.06 points, up 0.4%, after gaining as much as 1.2% on the day. Nasdaq Composite index increased by 0.7% to 22,670.08. It rose up to 1.4% for a short time.

— CNBC’s Liz Napolitano and Lisa Kailai Han partnercontributionadded to this report.