SINGAPORE — Shares in Japan were set to decline at the open on Wednesday as a winning streak on Wall Street ended overnight stateside.
Futures pointed to a lower open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 29,415 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 29,400. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 29,505.93.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose about 0.5% in early trading.
On the economic front, China is expected to release official inflation data around 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN when it reports its consumer price index and producer price index.
In corporate news, investors will monitor shares of Toyota and Japanese automotive supplier Denso after start-up Aurora announced it will collaborate with the firms to “build and globally deploy self-driving cars at scale.” Aurora bought Uber’s self-driving unit in December.
Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 shed 0.1% to close at 3,911.23, ending a six-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 9.93 points to finish its trading day at 31,375.83 while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to a record close of 14,007.70.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.456 following a decline from levels around 91.2 seen earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen traded at 104.54 per dollar, having strengthened significantly from levels above 105.2 against the greenback seen earlier in the trading week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7739 following its rise from levels around $0.765 earlier this week.
Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
- China: Consumer price index and producer price index for January at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN
Source: CNBC