TOKYO - Global stock markets rose Wednesday, taking in stride the IMF's lower global growth forecast, as oil prices extended a rebound.

KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC 40 added 0.9 per cent to 4,703.65. Germany's DAX gained 1.3 per cent to 10,035.70. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.8 per cent to 6,377.63. U.S. shares were set to rise, with S&P 500 futures up 0.7 per cent to 1,983.10. Dow futures gained 0.7 per cent to 16,794.00.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was up $1.10 at $49.63 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on expectations a supply glut will ease. The contract jumped $2.27 to close at $48.53 a barrel on Tuesday in New York. Brent Crude, a benchmark for international oils, was up 79 cents at $53.24 a barrel in London. "Oil markets are firming up as incremental supply side responses pile up," CMC's chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said in a report.

GROWTH DOWNGRADE: China's slowdown and tumbling commodity prices will push global economic growth this year to the lowest level since the 2009 recession, the International Monetary Fund says. The fund forecasts the world economy to grow 3.1 per cent this year, down from a July forecast of 3.3 per cent and from 3.4 per cent growth last year. The IMF expects Chinese economic growth to drop to a 25-year low 6.8 per cent this year, but that is unchanged from its July forecast.

QUOTE-WORTHY: "Market reaction to the IMF's latest report is rather muted, although it will likely weigh on sentiments in the longer term," said IG market strategist Bernard Aw in Singapore. "It is no secret that the IMF wants the Fed to delay its planned rate hike until next year. And the economic undercurrents increasingly lean toward that direction."

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.8 per cent to 18,322.98 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.8 per cent at 2,005.84. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 3.1 per cent to 22,515.76. China's markets are closed until Thursday. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.6 per cent to 5,197.90. Benchmarks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia rose.

STRONG SAMSUNG: Shares of Samsung Electronics closed up nearly 9 per cent, marking its biggest daily gain since January 2009, after announcing a forecast-beating profit for the third quarter. The South Korean company estimated that July-September operating profit was 7.3 trillion won ($6.3 billion), an increase of 80 per cent from a year earlier. Expectations that Samsung would adopt a more favourable shareholder return policy helped boost the shares as well.

BANK OF JAPAN: The Bank of Japan ended a policy board meeting with no change to its already lavish policy of monetary stimulus. There was market speculation the BOJ would announce new stimulus measures but many economists didn't expect a move at Wednesday's meeting. Japan's economy may slip into recession again this quarter, jeopardizing government and central bank plans to generate 2 per cent inflation and end economic stagnation.

CURRENCIES: The dollar was trading at 120.01 yen, down from 120.26 yen on Tuesday. The euro fell to $1.1248 from $1.1268.