Cherry trees in bloom near the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, April 7, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are set to largely rise on the back of the S&P 500 hitting new highs as artificial intelligence firm Nvidia overtakes Microsoft as the most valuable public company.
Shares of the chipmaker jumped 3.5% overnight on Wall Street and have surged 174% since the beginning of the year. The broad market index advanced 0.25% to close at 5,487.03, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.03% to close the trading day at 17,862.23.
Traders in Asia will focus on Japan’s trade data for May, with economists polled by Reuters expecting a 13% rise in exports — higher than April’s 8.3% gain.
Separately, investors will assess the Reuters Tankan index which showed business confidence among large Japanese manufacturers decreased to +6 from +9 in May. On the flip side, business confidence among non-manufacturers climbed to +31 from +26 in May.
The Tankan measures business confidence among Japanese corporations, and a positive figure means optimists outnumber pessimists and vice versa.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,660 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,580 compared to the previous close of 38,482.1.
Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stood at 7,775, slightly lower than its last close of 7,778.1.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 18,003, higher than the HSI’s last close of 17,915.55.
