Sunrise scene of Seoul downtown city skyline, Aerial view of N Seoul Tower at Namsan Park in twilight sky in morning. The best viewpoint and trekking from inwangsan mountain in Seoul city, South Korea
Mongkol Chuewong | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are expected to gain Tuesday, as investors await greater clarity on policies that U.S. President Donald Trump will unveil following his inauguration.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 started the day up 0.52%, while the Topix was up 0.33%.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi began trading 0.97% higher, while the Kosdaq gained 0.62%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 led gains in Asia, advancing 1.2%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index last traded at 20,278, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s close of 19,925.81.
The index hit its highest level since Dec. 31 during intraday trading Monday on the back of gains in consumer cyclicals and health-care firms, data from LSEG showed.
Several central banks in Asia will be convening later this week. Malaysia’s central bank is expected to keep its policy rate steady at 3% on Wednesday. The Bank of Japan is holding its next policy meeting from Jan. 23 to Jan 24 — BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has signaled intentions to hike rates. Singapore’s Monetary Authority of Singapore will be meeting on Friday.
Over in the U.S. markets were closed due to the Martin Luther King Jr. public holiday.
U.S. stock futures were higher after Trump’s swearing in and his promise of a new “golden age” for the U.S. He also issued a slew of executive orders, which notably did not include tariffs.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 gained 0.5%, while Nasdaq 100 futures ticked up 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 221 points, or 0.5%.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans contributed to this report.
