Asia markets set to start week on strong footing; Biden-Xi talks awaited

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher on Monday, bouncing off declines in the previous session as investors look to more economic data ahead of high-stakes talks between the U.S. and China.

U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping are set this week for their first in-person meeting in about a year.

Separately, ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service on Friday downgraded its ratings outlook on the U.S. government to negative from stable, pointing to rising risks to the nation’s fiscal strength.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,372, pointing to a higher open compared with the HSI’s close of 17,203.26.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 is also set to rise, with the futures contract in Chicago at 32,945 and its counterpart in Osaka at 32,940 against the index’s last close of 32,568.11.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.06% lower.

U.S. stocks rallied Friday, recovering the ground lost in the previous session, as Treasury yields stabilized.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.15% higher, while the S&P 500 ended 1.56% higher. The Nasdaq Composite added 2.05% to notch its best day since May.

— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.