Asia markets set for a mixed open on data-heavy day

Asia markets set for a mixed open on data-heavy day


An investor watching share prices at the securities trading floor of Asia Commercial Bank in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Hoang Dinh Nam | AFP | Getty Images

Asia-Pacific markets were set for a mixed open on Friday as investors awaited data from major economies across the region.

Japan is set to release industrial production figures, while China gears up to report its official purchasing managers index for May.

South Korea’s industrial production index rose 2.2% month-on-month in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, beating a Reuters poll expectation of a 1.1% rise.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,041, pointing to a lower open compared to the HSI’s close of 18,230.19.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures contract in Chicago was trading at 38,035 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,110 against the index’s last close of 38,054.13.

In Australia, futures for the S&P/ASX 200 pointed to a higher open, at 7,705 compared to the last close of 7,628.2.

Overnight, Wall Street’s main indexes closed lower as investors looked ahead to the release of key U.S. inflation data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 330.06 points, or 0.86%. The S&P 500 lost 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.08%.

The latest reading for the personal consumption expenditures price index will be released Friday, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge for inflation, and is expected to show prices in April running at a 2.7% annual rate, according to Dow Jones estimates.

— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.



Source

Berkshire CEO Abel praises Kraft Heinz for turnaround on planned split
World

Berkshire CEO Abel praises Kraft Heinz for turnaround on planned split

(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.) Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO likes the surprise course reversal announced this week by the new CEO of Kraft Heinz. In the food company’s Q4 earnings […]

Read More
U.S. and European interests are ‘intertwined’, Rubio says
World

U.S. and European interests are ‘intertwined’, Rubio says

The U.S. has no intention of abandoning its deep alliance with Europe and wants the region to succeed, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday. “We care deeply about your future and ours,” Rubio told the Munich Security Conference. “We want Europe to be strong. We believe that Europe must survive, because the […]

Read More
U.S. military preparing for potentially weeks-long Iran operations: Reuters
World

U.S. military preparing for potentially weeks-long Iran operations: Reuters

A state building is covered with a giant anti-U.S. billboard depicting a symbolic image of the destroyed USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) aircraft carrier in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 28, 2026. Morteza Nikoubazl | Nurphoto | Getty Images The U.S. military is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Donald […]

Read More