SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific looked set for a positive start on Thursday following an overnight bounce on Wall Street.
Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 28,890 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 28,870. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 28,508.55.
Shares in Australia also looked poised to open higher, with the SPI futures contract at 7,006 as compared with the S&P/ASX 200’s last close at 6,997.50.
India’s stocks return to trade on Thursday following a holiday. Investors will watch for market reaction as the Covid situation in the country remains serious and could weigh on sentiment, with nearly 300,000 new daily infections registered on Wednesday.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 316.01 points to 34,137.31 while the S&P 500 gained 0.93% to 4,173.42. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.19% to 13,950.22.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.155 — above levels below 91.2 seen earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.02 per dollar, stronger than levels above 108.4 against the greenback seen earlier in the week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7753, still lower than levels above $0.78 seen earlier this week.
Source: CNBC