SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks looked for a mixed start on Wednesday after states’ overnight gains that pushed the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite to record highs.
Futures indicated a lower open for Japanese stocks. The Chicago Nikkei futures contract traded at 28,850 while its Osaka counterpart traded at 28,790. This is compared to the Nikkei 225’s last closing price at 28,884.13. The Bank of Japan will release the minutes of its April monetary policy meeting at 7:50 a.m. HK / SIN.
Meanwhile, stocks in Australia appeared to be pushing higher on the opening. The SPI futures contract was 7,248, compared to the last closing price of the S & P / ASX 200 at 7,342.2.
Investors will be watching technology stocks in Asia Pacific after the Nasdaq Composite hit a new intraday record on Wall Street overnight, rising 0.79% to 14,253.37 that day. The S&P 500 also gained 0.51% to 4,246.44, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 68.61 points to 33,945.58.
Currencies
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its competitors, hit 91.756 after falling over 91.8 recently.
The Japanese yen changed hands at 110.65 per dollar after weakening below 110 against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar was trading at $ 0.755, above the $ 0.752 level it has been trading around for much of the week to date.
Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
- Japan: Minutes of the Bank of Japan’s April monetary policy meeting at 7:50 a.m. HK / SIN
