Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after China rolled out more moves to try to boost its lagging stock markets by raising confidence that prices will rise. Officials in Beijing said pension funds and mutual funds would be required to increase purchases of shares,

U.S. stock indexes are drifting higher following a mostly encouraging batch of profit reports from big companies

Sentiment also was helped by upbeat comments by U.S. and Chinese officials ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration later Monday. Pledges by both sides to work to improve relations may have alleviated some concerns over trade tensions that have built up as businesses brace for a possible increase in tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.