An annual three-day meeting of top central bankers and economists hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is set to kick off later in the day.

The focus will be on speeches from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Friday. Their comments will be closely watched for fresh policy signals from the world’s two most powerful central banks.

Besides central bankers, traders will also eye U.S. data on weekly jobless claims at 12:30 GMT and existing home sales at 14:00 GMT to gauge the strength of the world's largest economy and how it will impact the Federal Reserve's view on monetary policy.

Global stock markets inched higher in light trade, as market players shifted their focus from political uncertainty in the U.S. to the Jackson Hole meeting.

Stock markets across Asia ended mixed, with benchmarks in Seoul and Sydney rising, while Tokyo and Shanghai finished lower.

In Europe, shares were higher in mid-morning trade, with almost all major bourses across the region in positive territory.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly stronger open on Wall Street, with the major benchmarks up between 0.1%-and-0.2%.

The dollar is rising a bit, bouncing back from the prior session's losses, as investors’ concerns about President Donald Trump's administration fade.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1% at 93.24 in early trade.

USD/JPY rose 0.3% to 109.35, keeping distance from last week's low near 108.60, which was the greenback's weakest level in about four months.

Oil prices slipped earlier, as rising U.S. crude production dampened some of the optimism that had accompanied eight straight weeks of declines in U.S. domestic stockpiles.

Weekly supply data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that crude oil inventories fell by 3.3 million barrels in the week to Aug. 18, the eighth weekly decline in a row.

British household spending grew at its weakest pace since late 2014 in the three months to June, as the effect of a weaker pound since last year's Brexit vote weighed on Britons' spending power, official statistics showed.

Consumer spending growth rose by just 0.1% in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics said, bringing the year-over-year gain to 2.0%.

The figures also showed that year-on-year business investment growth slowed to zero from 0.7% in the first quarter.

Overall, the economy grew 0.3% on a quarterly basis and 1.7% annually, unrevised from an earlier estimate, representing the weakest start to any year since 2012.

GBP/USD added around 0.2% to 1.2820, pulling away from a two-month low of 1.2774 touched earlier in the session.