Asia-Pacific markets set to open higher after U.S. stocks hit new records

Asia-Pacific markets are set to open higher on Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street as U.S. benchmarks notched record highs following President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Treasury secretary.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.14% higher in its first hour of trade, after hitting a new all-time closing high on Monday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,875 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,830 compared to the previous close of 38,780.14.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 19,245, higher than the HSI’s last close of 19,150.99.

Traders in Asia-Pacific will be monitoring the release of Japan’s October services producer price index, and Singapore’s manufacturing output for the same month. For the latter, Reuters’ analysts expect a 2.2% year-on-year climb, compared to a 9.8% increase in September.

In the U.S., a rally in stocks propelled the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and the Russell 2000 index to reach new highs on Monday as investors cheered Trump’s decision to nominate Scott Bessent, the founder of Key Square Group.

The blue-chip Dow rose 440.06 points, or 0.99%, to 44,736.57. The broad S&P 500 gained 0.3% to end at 5,987.37. Both hit new all-time highs in the session, while the Dow also notched a fresh record close. The Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.27%, finishing the day at 19,054.84.

—CNBC’s Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.