The upscale shopping district of Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, May 4, 2024.
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The Asia-Pacific market is set to continue to gain on Wednesday after producer prices in the US came in lower than expected for July.
The producer price index – a measure of wholesale inflation – rose 0.1% last month. Economists expect the reading to show a monthly gain of 0.2% in July, in line with the previous month’s reading, according to Dow Jones consensus estimates.
Investors will turn their attention to July consumer price index figures from the US due on Wednesday.
In South Korea, the country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.5% from 2.8% in July, reaching its lowest point since October 2023.
In Japan, business sentiment in manufacturing became slightly less confident in August compared to the previous month, according to a Reuters Tankan survey.
The Tankan survey – which tracks the Bank of Japan’s quarterly survey of the same name – showed that the sentiment index for manufacturing fell to +10 in August, while the non-manufacturing index fell to +24. Both metrics were at +11 and +26 in the July survey.
This is due to weak demand from China, which weighed on corporate sentiment, Reuters reported, noting that this survey was also conducted after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate in July to the highest level since 2008.
Japan Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a strong opening for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 36,550 and the pair in Osaka at 36,410 compared to the previous close of 36,232.51.
Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 were at 7,827, higher than the last close of 7,826.8.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures were at 17,287, higher than HSI’s last close at 17,174.06.
Overnight in the US, stocks rallied and approached last month’s record levels after the PPI report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.04%, at 39,765.64, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 2.43%.
The S&P 500 added 1.68%, about 5% off its record high in July.
—CNBC’s Brian Evans and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
