SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were set to trade lower at the Friday open as stocks on Wall Street fell overnight.
Futures pointed to a lower open for Japanese stocks, with the Nikkei futures contract in Chicago at 23,060 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 22,940. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 23,235.47.
Shares in Australia were also set to decline, with the SPI futures contract at 5,830.0, as compared to the S&P/ASX 200’s last close at 5,908.50.
Tech shares regionally watched
Technology shares regionally will continue being watched by investors, after their counterparts on Wall Street slipped again overnight amid a recent downward trend.
The major stock averages stateside also saw losses on the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 405.89, or 1.45%, to 27,534.58. The S&P 500 slid 1.8% to 3,339.19 while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2% to 10,919.59.
Meanwhile, geopolitical developments are also likely to weigh on investor sentiment, amid a recent rise in tensions between the U.K. and EU.
“Its looking more and more like (U.K.) Prime Minister Boris Johnson will push for a hard Brexit,” Kathy Lien, managing director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, wrote in a Sept. 10 note.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 93.336 after an earlier bounce from levels around 92.8.
The Japanese yen traded at 106.15 per dollar after changing hands at levels below 105.9 against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7262 after falling yesterday from levels above $0.73.
What’s on tap:
- Malaysia: Industrial production for July
Source: CNBC