Global stocks are at record highs
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose to new highs in early trading. The benchmark index was up 3 points, or 0.16%, at 2,408.25 at 9:42 a.m. ET. The VIX "fear gauge" of expected volatility in the S&P 500 opened at 9.82, its lowest since May 10.
European shares fell slightly. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was last down 0.1 percent, led lower by basic resources and energy companies. Steelmakers were hit after iron ore prices fell for a third day, on concern over reduced Chinese demand.
Earlier, Asian stocks, as measured by MSCI gained almost 1 percent to a two-year high. This helped push MSCI's 46-country world stock index to a record high of 464.38. It last stood at 463.78, up 0.2 percent.
Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, fell 58 cents, or more than 1 percent to $53.38 a barrel after delegates said OPEC had agreed to extend output cuts for nine months to fight a global glut. The cuts are likely to be shared by a dozen non-OPEC states. Some in the market had been expecting deeper cuts or a 12-month extension.
"It is a disappointment that OPEC hasn't done more to balance the markets," said Olivier Jakob, energy markets analyst at Swiss consultancy Petromatrix. "A nine-month extension of the output cuts is already baked into prices. This shows there's not much more OPEC can do."
The dollar was down 0.1 percent against a basket of other major currencies after the minutes of the Fed's May 2-3 meeting were released on Wednesday.
They showed policymakers agreed they should hold off on raising rates until it was clear a recent slowdown in the U.S. economy was temporary, though most said a hike was coming soon.
Fed staff proposed a plan to wind down the more than $4 trillion of debt securities amassed as part of efforts to stimulate the economy. In a move some investors cited as reassuring, the plan included a limit on how much would be allowed to fall off the balance sheet each month.
Federal funds futures imply traders see an 83 percent chance of a rate rise in June and a 46 percent probability of two increases by the end of 2017, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
U.S. Treasury yields dipped after the minutes, weakening the dollar. The benchmark 10-year yield was down 1.6 basis point on Thursday at 2.25 percent.
Euro zone borrowing costs also fell after what was seen as a sign central banks would be wary of stepping back too quickly from ultra-loose policies that have supported their economies.
Despite signs of economic recovery, many in markets worry that a precipitate withdrawal of stimulus could cause turbulence.
"The BOJ (Bank of Japan) and the ECB (European Central Bank) are the ones with the long-standing structural weaknesses and there are bigger fears about the risk of a taper tantrum," said Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital Markets.
German 10-year government bond yields fell 4.1 basis points to 0.36 percent.
(Additional Reuters reporting by Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo, Kit Rees, Ritvik Carvalho, Dhara Ranasinghe and Christopher Johnson in London; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)