SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific looked set for a mixed start on Wednesday, following an overnight bounce stateside that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising more than 500 points.
Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 27,795 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 27,740. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 27,388.16.
Japan’s trade data for June is expected to be out at 7:50 a.m. HK/SIN on Wednesday.
Australian stocks, on the other hand, appeared poised for declines. The SPI futures contract was at 7,210.0, against the S&P/ASX 200’s last close at 7,252.20.
Australia’s preliminary retail sales data for June is set to be released at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 549.95 points to 34,511.99. The S&P 500 jumped 1.52% to 4,323.06 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.57% to 14,498.88.
Those gains were a comeback from Monday’s losses, which saw the Dow plunging more than 700 points amid fears that a Covid resurgence could slow the economic recovery.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.973 after seeing levels above 93.1 recently.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.91 per dollar, weaker than levels below 109.5 seen against the greenback earlier in the week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7333, still off levels above $0.742 seen last week.
Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
- Japan: trade data for June at 7:50 a.m. HK/SIN
- Australia: Preliminary retail sales data for June at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN
