Pedestrians cross a street in front of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), on Thursday, October 29, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Asia Pacific equities opened in positive territory as investors look ahead to a much-anticipated Federal Reserve meeting and reading of US CPI data.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.67% after Chief Executive John Lee announced further easing of Covid restrictions.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.17%. The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.29%, while the Topix rose 0.40%.
Korean benchmark Kospi fell marginally and the Kosdaq lost 0.22%. The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific equities outside Japan rose 0.42%.
In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component fell 0.174% while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.07%.
Hong Kong will release its third quarter industrial production data and the Bank of Korea will also release minutes of its November meeting.
Australia’s business sentiment slipped into negative territory for the first time since December last year.
Traders are preparing for the release of the US CPI report for November, hoping for signs of easing inflation. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting a 0.3% monthly increase, down from October’s 0.4%
In the US, the blue-chip Dow rose 528.58 points, or 1.58%, to 34,005.04 overnight, marking its first close above 34,000 since Dec. 2. The S&P 500 was up 1.43% to close at 3,990.56 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.26%. stand at 11,143.74.