Minutes from the US Federal Reserve's October committee meeting have helped push Japanese stocks higher after the central bank hinted at slowing its asset purchase programme.
Janet Yellen has defended the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing programme in her first appearance before Congress.
The US economy has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent months.
Bond managers are buying back into European government debt, as worrying inflation figures revive fears the eurozone could sink into a period of Japan-style deflation.
US non-farm payroll numbers came in at almost double analysts' estimates in October, despite the 16-day government shutdown.
Bill O'Neill, head of chief investment office of wealth management research UK at UBS Wealth Management, has warned there are three key 'nasties and traps' to watch out on the way to global economic recovery.