.Markets in Asia were poised for gains on Tuesday, taking cues from the rally in U.S. stocks as investors temporarily set aside recent trade-related concerns.
Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were up 0.78 percent compared to the index’s Monday close. Australian SPI futures, meanwhile, were 0.43 percent higher at the end of the previous session.
Gains were seen on Wall Street as trade-related concerns faded for now, with the improvement in sentiment coming on the back of the expectation-topping June jobs report released Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.31 percent, or 320.11 points, to close at 24,776.59, posting its best session in more than one month. The S&P 500 gained 0.88 percent to 2,784.17 and the Nasdaq composite added 0.88 percent to end at 7,756.20.
Fears that a months-long trade dispute between the U.S. and a number of its trading partners, including China, have kept investors on edge about the implications of a potential trade war affecting global growth and corporate profits. U.S. tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods took effect on Friday, with China immediately retaliating with duties on the same amount of U.S. products.
With earnings season ahead, however, trade tensions appear to have dissipated slightly from the spotlight.
“No new news from the U.S.-Sino trade war has helped investors focus back on fundamentals and with the U.S. earnings season starting later this week, the U.S. has led the gains in equities overnight,” Rodrigo Catril, senior foreign exchange strategist at National Australia Bank, said in a note.
Of note, U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has resigned in protest against the government’s decision to maintain close ties to the European Union. He will be replaced by Jeremy Hunt. Those moves came after Brexit Secretary David Davis stepped down as he had objected to British Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU withdrawal plan.
The British pound came under pressure amid the political turmoil. The currency traded at $1.3247 at 7:05 a.m. HK/SIN after falling more than 1 percent in the overnight session.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, stood at 94.078.
Here’s the economic calendar for Tuesday (all times in HK/SIN):
- 9:30 a.m.: NAB Australia business confidence survey
- 9:30 a.m.: China June CPI
- 9:30 a.m.: China June PPI
- 2:00 p.m.: Japan machine tool orders
