Asia-Pacific stocks set for mixed start; Australia’s March jobs data ahead

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific looked set for a mixed Thursday start as investors look ahead to the release of Australian jobs data for March.

The Bank of Korea is also set to announce its latest interest rate decision at 9:00 a.m. HK/SIN.

Futures pointed to a higher open for Japan markets. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 26,955 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 26,920. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 26,843.49.

Futures pointed to a muted open for Australian stocks. The SPI futures contract was at 7,471, against the S&P/ASX 200’s last close at 7,479. Australian jobs data for March is set to be released at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN today.

Investors will monitor Hong Kong-listed shares of CNOOC after Reuters reported Wednesday the Chinese oil firm is preparing to exit operations in multiple Western nations due to fears of sanctions.

Markets in India are closed on Thursday for a holiday.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 climbed 1.12% to 4,446.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 344.23 points, or 1.01%, to 34,564.59. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 2.03% to 13,643.59.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.875 after a recent decline from above 100.4.

The Japanese yen traded at 125.46 per dollar, stronger than levels above 125.6 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7452 following a recent bounce from levels below $0.744.