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People visit a riverside in front of the Lujiazui financial district, during the National People's Congress (NPC) in Shanghai, China, March 7, 2023.
Aly Song | Reuters
Asia-Pacific markets were set to climb on Tuesday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points and major U.S. indexes continued their postelection rally.
In Asia, investors will be watching the final day of China's National People Congress, which is expected to see announcements of fiscal stimulus aimed at supporting the world's second-largest economy.
In Japan, the country will be releasing spending data for September, which will offer clues to the policy path ahead for the Bank of Japan. Strong spending data would support the case for the BOJ to raise rates, and vice versa.
Japan's Nikkei 225 is set to rise, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,705 and its counterpart in Osaka at 39,680 against the index's last close of 39,381.41
Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 21,301, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI's close of 20,953. If stocks follow futures, the Hong Kong index will hit its highest level in about a month.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1%, on pace for a third straight day of gains.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose Thursday, extending a rally after Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election and the latest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 gained 0.74% to close at a record high of 5,973.10. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.51% to reach 19,269.46, its first close above the 19,000 mark.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed, ticking down less than one point. All three indexes hit intraday record highs during the session. The Dow had gained 1,500 points in the previous session.
— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
Election will not change Fed policy in the near term, Powell says
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following the Nov. 6-7, 2024, Federal Open Market Committee meeting at William McChesney Martin Jr. Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 7, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Fed Chair Powell said during his press conference that the results of the election will have "no effect" on Fed policy in the near term.
Watch and follow along with CNBC's coverage of the presser here.
— Jesse Pound
Retail investors' market participation surged following U.S. election, JPMorgan says
The participation of retail investors after the U.S. election was approximately 5% higher than levels during the 2020 cycle, JPMorgan wrote in a Thursday note to clients.
"Demand for broad market ETFs, leveraged bull tech and Bitcoin ETFs are at multi sigma highs (SPY +15z, TQQQ +11z, IBIT +15z). On the other hand, they sold GLD aggressively (-16z) amid gold's tumbling on dollar strength. In singles, they chased the rally in TSLA (+2z) and PLTR (+6.6z) while selling some Financial names at the peak (CCNE -14z)," strategist Emma Wu added.
Sector wise, Wu said it was apparent retail investors had been continuing to position toward consumer staples and health-care names and away from tech-exposed stocks.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Powell says he would not resign if Trump asked him to
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Powell said he would not step down from his position as Fed chief even if President-elect Donald Trump asked him to.
"No," he said in response to a reporter's question on whether or not he would leave if Trump asked him to resign.
Later on, another reporter asked Powell if the president had the power to fire or demote him from his position. The Fed chair responded that such an action was "not permitted under the law."
— Lisa Kailai Han, Spencer Kimball
English (US)