By SINGAPORE — Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were set to open mixed on Wednesday, as Wall Street bounced back after a turbulent week last week. Investors will be looking ahead to the minutes from Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting.
Futures in Japan pointed to a higher open. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 26,485, while its counterpart in Osaka was at 26,480 — higher than the Nikkei 225’s last close at 26,246.31.
In Australia, SPI futures were at 6,463, lower than the S&P/ASX 200‘s last close at 6,523.8.
Major indexes in the U.S. jumped on Tuesday stateside after weeks of declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 641.47 points or 2.15% to 30,530.25, while the S&P 500 rose 2.45% to 3,764.79. The tech-focused Nasdaq advanced 2.51% to 11,069.302.
The Bank of Japan, after maintaining its ultra-low interest rates last week, is set to release its monetary policy meeting minutes on Wednesday morning.
The Japanese yen crossed the 136 level on Tuesday and was last at 136.55 against the greenback. The currency has been weakening as the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy diverges from that of the Fed.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, last traded at 104.435.
The Australian dollar was at $0.6962, after falling from levels above $0.702 late last week.
