Asia-Pacific stocks set for higher start; China’s latest benchmark lending rate ahead
SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific looked set for a higher Wednesday start following overnight gains on Wall Street that saw the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surging more than 2%. Investors will also watch for the release of China’s latest benchmark lending rate, expected later today.
Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 27,260 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 27,210. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 26,985.09.
Australian stocks also looked poised for a higher start, with the SPI futures contract at 7,581, against the S&P/ASX 200’s last close at 7,565.20.
China is set to announce its latest one-year loan prime rate at 9:15 a.m. HK/SIN. A majority of the traders and analysts surveyed in a snap Reuters poll expect a cut in the loan prime rate this month.
Investors have been watching for signs of policy support from Chinese authorities as the mainland continues to grapple with its worst Covid outbreak since the initial shock of the pandemic in 2020.
Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 climbed around 1.61% to 4,462.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 499.51 points, or 1.45%, to 34,911.20 while the Nasdaq Composite surged 2.15% to 13,619.66.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 100.961 — higher as compared with levels around 100.5 seen earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen traded at 129.22 per dollar, continue to weaken after going above 128 against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7388, still lower as compared to levels above $0.745 seen last week.