The Exchange Square Complex, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are set to rise Thursday morning as investors assess soft economic data from the U.S. and a shortened trading session in which the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to new highs.
Investors are also looking ahead to data due Thursday, including Hong Kong business activity and Australian trade.
Australia’s trade surplus is expected to narrow to 6.3 billion Australian dollars ($4.23 billion) from about AU$ 6.5 billion.
Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stood at 7,802, higher than its last close of 7,739.9.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a higher open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 40,760 and its counterpart in Osaka at 40,700 compared to the previous close of 40,580.76.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 18,012, higher than the HSI’s last close of 17,978.57.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 added 0.51%, closing at 5,537.02. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.88% to end at 18,188.30 as tech giants like Tesla and Nvidia rallied.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.06% to end at 39,308, weighed down by a drop in UnitedHealth.
—CNBC’s Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.