SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific looked set to see a positive start on Friday, as investors await the market debut of JD Logistics in Hong Kong.
Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 28,900 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 28,880. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 28,549.01.
Shares in Australia also looked poised to rise. The SPI futures contract sat at 7,148, against the S&P/ASX 200’s last close at 7,094.90.
The logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is set to make its debut in Hong Kong on Friday at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN. Shares of JD Logistics have been issued at 40.36 Hong Kong dollars each.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 141.59 points to close at 34,464.64. The S&P 500 edged 0.12% higher to 4,200.88 while the Nasdaq Composite ended the trading day stateside little changed at 13,736.28.
The moves on Wall Street came following the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. labor market data. Initial jobless claims fell to 406,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was much lower than the 425,000 initial jobless claims expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 89.971 — lower than levels above 90 seen earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.85 per dollar, following its sharp weakening yesterday from levels below 109.2 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.774, still lower than levels above $0.777 seen earlier this week.
Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
- Hong Kong: JD Logistics’ market debut at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN
