Asia-Pacific markets set to rise as Wall Street bounces on retail sales data

Asia-Pacific markets set to rise as Wall Street bounces on retail sales data


Yukinori Hasumi | Moment | Getty Images

Asia-Pacific markets are set to rise on Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, which ticked up after retail sales data appeared to ease recession concerns.

Investors will be keeping a close watch on Japanese markets, as the Bank of Japan kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at 0.5% when the meeting concludes on Wednesday.

The BOJ’s two-day meeting coincides with the U.S. Federal Reserve, with the latter also expected to keep interest rates unchanged.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open slightly higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 37,800, while its counterpart in Osaka traded at 37,200 against the index’s last close of 37,396.52.

Meanwhile, futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 24,186 pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s last close of 24,145.57.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.59% higher.

Stateside, U.S. stocks made a comeback from a four-week decline exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff policy rollout and falling consumer confidence.

The S&P 500 gained 0.64% to close at 5,675.12, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.31% and ended at 17,808.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced 353.44 points, or 0.85%, to end at 41,841.63.

The 30-stock index was bolstered by gains in Walmart and International Business Machines. All three of the major averages posted back-to-back gains.

— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.



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