SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific looked set for a positive start on Monday as investors await the release of Chinese economic data.
Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 28,310 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 28,280. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 28,084.47.
Stocks in Australia also looked set for a positive open. The SPI futures contract was at 7,050, as compared with the S&P/ASX 200’s last close at 7,014.20.
Looking ahead, a slew of Chinese economic data, including the country’s industrial production and retail sales for April, is expected to be out at 10:00 a.m. HK/SIN on Monday.
Currencies
Meanwhile, investors will also monitor the price of bitcoin after Tesla CEO Elon Musk implied in a Twitter exchange Sunday that the electric vehicle maker sold or may sell the rest of its holdings in the cryptocurrency.
The price of bitcoin was at $45,756.32, as of 7:22 p.m. ET, according to data from Coin Metrics.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.303 after a recent decline from above 90.8.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.38 per dollar, having weakened last week from levels below 109 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7781, following last week’s decline from levels above $0.78.
Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
- China: Fixed asset investment, industrial production and retail sales data for April at 10:00 a.m. HK/SIN
Source: CNBC