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The Bank of Japan (BOJ) headquarters is seen beyond the cherry blossoms in Tokyo on March 20, 2023.
Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are set for a mixed open two of the three Wall Street’s major indexes hit record highs on Thursday night and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says that he is confident a deal can be struck on the U.S. debt ceiling by next week.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite jumped on Thursday to notch their highest closing levels since August 2022 as Wall Street traders kept focused on debt ceiling negotiations.
Leaders from the Group of 7 will be gathering in Hiroshima, Japan for the G-7 summit that kicks off today.
The region will look to Japan’s inflation figures for April on Friday, with core inflation expected to rise slightly to 3.4% compared to March’s 3.1%, according to a Reuters poll.
The inflation figures will be a key consideration for the Bank of Japan under new governor Kazuo Ueda, who is currently maintaining the BOJ’s ultra dovish stance.
The Nikkei 225 looks to end the week firmly above the 30,000 mark, with the futures contract in Chicago at 30,965 and its counterpart in Osaka at 30,910 against its last close at 30,573.93.
Stocks in Australia were also set to rise, with futures for the S&P/ASX 200 at 7,276, higher than the index’s last close of 7,236.2.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index meanwhile is set for a lower open, with futures at 19,469 compared to the HSI’s last close of 19,727.25.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes were up for a second straight day, with the Nasdaq gaining 1.51% and hitting 52-week highs, while the S&P added 0.94%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.34%
— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report
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