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Pedestrians walk past Japanese national flags decorating a street in the popular tourist area of Ginza as people do last minute shopping before the New Year's holidays, in central Tokyo on December 30, 2024.
Richard A. Brooks | AFP | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to mostly rise Wednesday, following a softer-than-expected inflation data from the U.S. that sent two key Wall Street benchmarks higher overnight.
The producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, climbed just 0.2% in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists polled by Dow Jones had estimated a 0.4% rise. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, came in flat.
Investors in Asia also assessed the Reuters Tankan survey from Japan for January, which mirrors the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey.
Business sentiment among large manufacturers rebounded, with the Tankan reading coming in at plus 2, after dipping into negative territory for the first time in 10 months in December with a reading of minus 1 in December.
Optimism among non-manufacturers edged up to plus 31, from plus 30 in December.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to rise, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,785 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 38,710, compared with the index's last close of 38,474.
Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 19,217 pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI's close of 19,219.78.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 started the day up 0.26%.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.52% while the S&P 500 advanced 0.11% after the PPI report to 5,842.91. In contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.23%.
— CNBC's Hakyung Kim and Brian Evans contributed to this report.
CNBC Pro: Fund manager reveals how his little-known ETF gained 80% in 2024
Trump to issue executive orders that support oil industry
President-elect Donald Trump plans to issue a number of executive orders to support fossil fuels after his inauguration this coming Monday, unnamed oil lobbyists told The Wall Street Journal.
Trump is expected to issue orders to roll back President Joe Biden's restrictions on drilling for oil and gas offshore and on federal land, the lobbyists told the newspaper. He also plans to go after tailpipe emission rules and start approving plants that export liquid natural gas, the Journal reported.
— Spencer Kimball
Nike shares fall to lowest level since 2020
Shares of athletic apparel company Nike dropped 1.7% Tuesday, bringing the stock down to their lowest level since March 2020.
Since Elliott Hill took over the company in October, shares have fallen 14%.
Nike shares over the last 52-weeks
— Hakyung Kim
Call option buying is high ahead of earnings, says Goldman's John Marshall
John Marshall, head of derivatives research at Goldman Sachs, said on CNBC's "Money Movers" that options volume is high ahead of earnings season, and it's skewed optimistically.
"A lot of call buying. That suggests that people are positioned for short-term upside -- that tends to be a contrarian signal," Marshall said. Call options serve as a bet that a stock will rise in the short-term.
Marshall pointed to the consumer sector as one area where there could be volatility, building off a hectic third-quarter reporting season.
"The earnings day moves that we saw last quarter were at a 14-year high. That tells you that there's a lot of volatility in the fundamentals of these companies," Marshall said.
— Jesse Pound
English (US)