Asia markets are poised to kick-start data-heavy week higher, with focus on China PMI and India GDP

Asia-Pacific markets were set to start the final week of May largely higher, with investors awaiting key economic data from China and India.

The world’s second-largest economy will release its official purchasing managers’ index reading on Friday, while India will post its fiscal fourth-quarter gross domestic product numbers.

Australia will also announce its inflation data for April on Wednesday, with analysts from ING expecting a “modest dip.”

Futures for the Australian S&P/ASX 200 point to a stronger open at 7,798 compared with its last close of 7,727.6.

However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 appears set to rise, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,805 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,800 against the index’s last close of 38,646.11.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,659, pointing to a stronger open compared with the HSI’s close of 18,608.94.

On Friday in the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite closed at a fresh record high as gains in chipmaker Nvidia outweighed worries that the Federal Reserve will delay interest rate cuts.

The tech-heavy index advanced 1.1%, ending at 16,920.79. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.01%.

U.S. markets will be closed for a holiday on Monday.

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