SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific stocks looked set to trade higher at the Thursday open, as investors in the region look ahead to the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy decision.
Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 26,485 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 26,480, higher than the Nikkei 225’s last close at 26,386.63.
Japan’s retail sales figures for March are set to be out at 7:50 a.m. HK/SIN today. The Bank of Japan is set to announce its latest monetary policy decision at 11:00 a.m. HK/SIN on Thursday.
Australian stocks also looked poised for a positive start, with the SPI futures contract at 7,285, against the S&P/ASX 200’s last close at 26,386.63.
Investors in Asia-Pacific will continue to monitor developments surrounding the Covid situation in mainland China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for an “all-out” effort to construct infrastructure. His comments come as mainland China has since March been facing its worst outbreak of Covid-19 since the initial shock of the pandemic in early 2020.
Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 gained 0.21% to 4,183.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 61.75 points, or 0.19%, to 33,301.93. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was little changed at 12,488.93.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 102.954 — continuing to hold above the 102 levels it crossed earlier this week.
The Japanese yen traded at 128.48 per dollar, weaker as compared with levels below 127.4 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7124, off levels above $0.72 seen earlier in the week.
