Asia-Pacific markets set to rise as China's top financial officials gather in Hong Kong for summit

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Asia-Pacific markets are set to open higher on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street gains buoyed by a Tesla rally, and as traders wait to watch key Chinese financial policymakers speak at an investment summit in Hong Kong.

Futures for Australia's S&P/ASX 200 stood at 8,327, slightly higher than the index's last close of 8,300.2.

Japan's Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,275 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,310 compared to the previous close of 38,220.85.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were at 19,766, higher than the HSI's last close of 19,576.61.

The Reserve Bank of Australia will publish the minutes from its monetary policy meeting earlier this month, where it held its benchmark interest rate for the eighth meeting in a row at 4.35%.

Later in the day, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and several top financial policymakers are scheduled to speak at a global financiers summit in Hong Kong. He, who oversees a top-level economic and financial policy-making body, would be delivering an opening keynote speech at the summit, according to the South China Morning Post.

Li Yunze, the head of China's National Financial Regulatory Administration, will join Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and Zhu Hexin, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, for a panel discussion on mainland China's financial developments, the HKMA summit's agenda revealed.

Overnight in the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite rose following a rough week, as Tesla shares advanced and Wall Street looked ahead to some major market-moving earnings reports.

The Nasdaq advanced 0.6% to settle at 18,791.81, while the S&P 500 added about 0.4% to close at 5,893.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55.39 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 43,389.60.

Monday's movements come after a challenging week for the three major benchmarks, which have now pulled back from the peaks reached following Donald Trump's election win. The decline was fueled by concerns over the direction of interest rates after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated that the central bank is not "in a hurry" to cut rates.

Fed can be 'patient' due to economic strength, CIO says

One reason the postelection rally for stocks appears to have stalled may be that investors are growing less confident in the rate cut path of the Federal Reserve.

According to the CME FedWatch Tool, trading in the fed funds futures market currently implies a 62.1% likelihood of a rate cut in December. That is down from 65.3% a week ago, and 76.8% a month ago.

Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors, said recent signs of continued strength for the economy could lead to the Fed slowing its pace of cuts.

"It is going to call into question how much more they need to cut, and how quickly. I think that's what they've really been hinting at — that they're going to be patient, they're going to be data dependent, and that could mean a slower pace of rate cuts than either their forecasts have suggested or the market was expecting," Baird said.

Baird added that the effect of the election, such as the potential for higher tariffs under President-elect Donald Trump, "exacerbate" those questions about how much the Fed will cut.

— Jesse Pound

CNBC Pro: 'Top quality asset': Strategist names his top stock to buy in India right now

Indian markets have been under pressure in recent weeks, but strategist Matt Orton remains bullish on the country, revealing "one of his favorite" stocks right now.

"India has been my most overweight country and that still remains the fact outside of the U.S.," the chief market strategist at asset management firm Raymond James Investment Management said, naming a stock that is one of his favorites.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner