Asia stocks set for gains, Aussie shares hold near two-year highs

Australia stocks kicked off Thursday on a postive note, hovering near two-year highs, while most other Asia-Pacific markets looked set to continue their positive momentum from the previous session.

Markets including Australia and Hong Kong resumed trading Wednesday after a Christmas break, both ending higher, while China stocks were buoyed by a rebound in online gaming stocks.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200  index rose 0.3% higher to 7,583.70, holding at its highest level since late April 2022. The index is set to end the year decidedly higher at 7.7%.

Investors await retail sales data from Japan later in the session, with a Reuters poll forecasting a 5% growth in November.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 16,733, pointing to a higher open compared with the HSI’s close of 16,624.84.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was set for a slightly lower open after strong gains in the previous session. Futures contract in Chicago were at 33,495 and their counterpart in Osaka at 33,450 against the Nikkei 225’s last close of 33,681.24.

Overnight, U.S. stocks finished higher Wednesday as traders kept an eye on the S&P 500’s march toward record levels.

The S&P 500 inched up 0.14%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.16%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 111.19 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 37,656.52.

The Dow notched a fresh closing high, while the S&P 500 finished less than 0.5% off of its closing record of 4,796.56 set in January 2022. Along with the Dow and Nasdaq, the S&P is also enjoying an eight-week winning streak — its longest since 2017.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Alex Harring contributed to this report