Cherry trees in bloom near the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, April 7, 2024.
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Most Asia-Pacific markets were set to rise on Wednesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed at record highs overnight as traders become increasingly bullish on interest rate cuts.
The Dow blue-chip index gained 1.85%, closing at 40,954.48, while the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.64% to wrap the day at 5,667.20. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.20%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market after the Reuters Tankan survey showed an increase in business optimism among large Japanese manufacturers.
The manufacturing index was at +11, up from +6 in the previous month. However, confidence among non-manufacturers dipped from +31 to +27.
The Nikkei’s futures contract in Chicago stood at 41,600 and its counterpart in Osaka at 41,500 compared to the previous close of 41,275.08.
The Japanese authorities likely intervened in the currency market last Thursday and Friday, spending a total of 6 trillion yen ($37.9 billion) over the two days, according to Reuters.
The yen is currently at 158.3 against the U.S. dollar. The currency weakened to 161.82 last Wednesday before strengthening to as much as 157.41 the following day.
Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stood at 8,035, lower than their last close of 7,999.3.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 17,843, higher than the HSI’s last close of 17,727.98.
Investors will also watch out for Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports data due later in the day. Analysts expect them to contract 1.2% compared to 0.1% decline in the previous year, according to Reuters.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh contributed to this report.