Asia markets set for rebound ahead of a slew of economic data

Asia-Pacific markets are set for a rebound Friday, after mostly falling for the first two trading days of the new year.

Investors will be watching Southeast Asia’s economic data due later in the day, including inflation numbers from Thailand and the Philippines, as well as retail sales data from Singapore.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.26% higher, after suffering two straight days of losses.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 is also set to rise, with the futures contract in Chicago at 33,380 and its counterpart in Osaka at 33,280 against the index’s last close of 33,288.29.

In contrast, futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 16,590, pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s close of 16,645.98.

Overnight in the U.S., the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.56% to mark a fifth straight day of declines — its longest losing streak since October 2022.

The S&P 500 slid 0.34% to mark a four-day losing streak, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was the outlier, eking out a 0.03% gain.

— CNBC’s Sarah Min and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report