SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks should have a mixed start on Thursday as investors await the release of China’s April industrial earnings data.
Futures indicated a lower open for Japanese stocks. The Chicago Nikkei futures contract was 28,585 while its Osaka counterpart was 28,620. This is compared to the Nikkei 225’s last closing price at 28,642.19.
Australian stocks seemed poised to barely move. The SPI futures contract was 7,093 compared to the last closing price of the S & P / ASX 200 at 7,092.50.
China is expected to release its April industrial earnings data around 9:30 a.m. to HK / SIN on Thursday.
As for the company’s performance, investors will be watching Xiaomi’s shares in Hong Kong after the Chinese smartphone maker reported an almost 55% increase in sales in the first quarter over the same period last year on Wednesday.
On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 10.59 points to 34,323.05 while the S&P 500 rose 0.19% to 4,195.99. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.59% to 13,738.
Currencies
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its peers, hit 90.042 after a recent surge from below 89.7.
The Japanese yen was trading at 109.13 per dollar, weaker than below 108.9 against the greenback seen yesterday. The Australian dollar was trading at $ 0.774 compared to levels above $ 0.777 seen yesterday.
Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
- China: Industrial profits for April at 9:30 a.m. HK / SIN
