Asia markets mostly set to track Wall Street gains; China factory activity data on deck
An editorial montage of the Japan flag and Japanese yen cash bank notes.
Javier Ghersi | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were largely set to extend gains on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street moves, with investors awaiting official announcement about any possible intervention by Japanese authorities to check the slide in yen.
The currency weakened to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar yesterday at 160.03, before strengthening sharply to trade around the 155 level.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a note that Japan’s Ministry of Finance is expected to publish Tuesday its market interventions between March 28 and April 26.
Traders will also assess China manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for April, while economic data is also expected from Japan and South Korea later in the day.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 is set to rise as traders return from a public holiday, with the futures contract in Chicago and Osaka both at 38,320 against the index’s last close of 37,934.76.
Futures for the Australian S&P/ASX 200 point to a stronger open at 7,671 compared with its last close of 7,637.4.
However, futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,697, pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s close of 17,746.91.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes closed higher Monday, lifted by Tesla, while traders geared up for a week dominated by corporate earnings and a Federal Reserve meeting.
Tesla jumped more than 15%, providing upward momentum to the market after clearing a key hurdle for full self-driving technology in China.
The S&P 500 rose 0.32%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.35%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.38%.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans contributed to this report.