Futures pointed to a higher open for equities in Asia as markets awaited the release of retail sales and FAI numbers out of China later in the day.
Futures pointed to a higher open for equities in Asia as oil prices fall after a surprise build in U. S. stocks and as markets await the release of economic data from China.
Nikkei futures in Chicago were up 0.51 percent at 20,000 and futures in Osaka were higher by 0.11 percent at 19,920. This was compared to the Nikkei 225’s last close of 19,898.75.
Australian SPI futures also pointed to a higher open for the S&P/ASX 200, trading 0.28 percent higher at 5,789. This was higher than the benchmark index’s last close of 5,772.766.
Over in the U. S., stocks closed higher, with big name tech stocks bouncing back after a two-day slide.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.44 percent or 92.8 points to close at 21,328.47, the S&P 500 was higher by 0.45 percent or 10.96 points at 2,440.35 and the Nasdaq rose 0.73 percent or 44.9 to finish the session at 6,220.37.
Markets are likely to focus on data from China due later in the trading session, with May retail sales, fixed asset investment and industrial output numbers expected around 10 a.m. HK/SIN.
In energy news, oil prices settled higher before slipping on reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) that crude stocks had risen instead of drawing down as expected. Brent crude futures settled 43 cents up at $48.27 a barrel and U. S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 38 cents to settle at $46.46.
The API estimates are followed by official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. The two sets of figures often diverge.
The dollar was softer against a basket of rival currencies, with the dollar index trading as low as 96.949 overnight compared to levels around the 97.1 level seen earlier. Dollar/yen was slightly firmer at 110.06, after the pair slipped below the 110 handle earlier in the week.
The Canadian dollar continued to trade around two-month highs, with the greenback fetching 1.3236 Canadian dollars at 6: 40 a.m. HK/SIN.
Cable strengthened to trade at $1.2747 after slipping to levels around the $1.26 handle earlier this week on political uncertainty in the U. K.
“Regardless of the current upside gains, the British pound remains vulnerable to heavy losses with the outlook tilted to the downside as political instability in the U. K. weighs heavily on the currency, ” FXTM Research Analyst Lukman Otunuga said in a Tuesday evening note.
The hung parliament result following the U. K. election might have prompted optimism for a softer Brexit, but the sterling remained “overshadowed” by instability in Westminster, Otunuga added.
In New Zealand, the current account deficit widened to NZ$8.13 billion in the first quarter on year, compared to a gap of NZ$7.28 billion seen. The kiwi dipped 0.15 percent to 0.7210 to the dollar after the data.
