Asia-Pacific markets open higher as investors await China PMI and industrial profits data

Japan and Hong Kong markets opened higher Monday, ahead of China’s manufacturing and industrial profit data.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.55% at the open, while the Topix added 0.92%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures last traded at 20,147, compared with HSI’s last close of 20,066.19. 

Australian, Taiwan and South Korean markets were closed for holidays.

China on Sunday introduced new initiatives to encourage the growth of index investment products in its latest attempt to support its struggling stock market. The China Securities Regulatory Commission aims to actively support the growth of equity and bond ETFs, amongst other measures.

The move follows CSRC’s measures last Thursday to encourage large state-owned mutual funds and insurers to purchase more shares.

China is slated to release its industrial profit data for December, as well as factory activity for January later in the day. Hong Kong is also expected to report trade data for December.

Last Friday in the U.S., the three major averages snapped a four-day winning streak. The S&P 500 closed lower after hitting new records on Friday, as investors took some profit to end a solid week centered on President Donald Trump‘s return to the White House.

The benchmark index shed 0.3% to 6,101.24, reversing course after hitting a fresh intraday record earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.5% to 19,954.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 140.82 points, or 0.3%, to 44,424.25.

Excitement toward Trump’s pro-business policies has largely pushed risk assets higher last week as investors focused on his inauguration. All three major averages posted their second straight positive week, signaling that the bull market is back in full force after December’s pullback.

—CNBC’s Alex Harring and Yun Li contributed to this report.