Japan's Nikkei 225 opened July 15 (Wednesday) up 434.73 points, or 0.64%, at 68,178.23 points.

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook will speak in ten minutes at the Federal Reserve’s annual conference on financial inclusion.

ING analyst Francesco Pesole says EUR/USD is receiving support from a re-narrowing of the US–euro area short-term interest rate differential amid renewed US–Iran tensions. Softer market bets on ECB tightening have left scope for euro-area short-end rates to firm, underpinning the euro. However, a sustained rise in oil/energy prices could limit that upside. Given recent ECB policymaker caution and the adverse terms-of-trade impact from higher energy costs, markets are unlikely to price in more than two ECB hikes by year-end.