Pedestrians cross a road in front of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020.
Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Asia-Pacific shares opened in positive territory as investors look ahead to a highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting and U.S. CPI data.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.28%. The Nikkei 225 in Japan added 0.85% in early trade, while the Topix inched up 1.44%.
Korean benchmark Kospi climbed 0.52% and the Kosdaq gained 0.50%. the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.13%.
Hong Kong will post its industrial production data for the third quarter, the NAB is slated to release a survey on Australian business confidence.
The Bank of Korea will also post minutes from its November meeting.
Traders are bracing for the release of the U.S. consumer price index report for November and hoping for signs of easing inflation. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect a 0.3% increase on a monthly basis, which would mark a step down from October’s 0.4%
Overnight in the U.S., the blue-chip Dow gained 528.58 points, or 1.58%, to 34,005.04, marking its first close over 34,000 since Dec. 2. The S&P 500 climbed 1.43% to close at 3,990.56, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.26% to stand at 11,143.74.