SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific shares opened lower on Thursday, as investors await the release of China trade data for May, expected later today.
Futures pointed to lower openness for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 28,195 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 28,140. Nikkei 225’s Last closed at 28,234.29.
Australian shares also looked set to open lower, with SPI futures contract at 7,079 S&P/ASX 200K Last closed at 7,121.10.
China is set to announce its trade figures for May later on Thursday.
European Central Bank Is July rate hike is also expected to signal in its policy meeting later on Thursday. In the Asia-Pacific, the central bank of Australia And India Both had announced a hike in rates earlier this week.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 1.08% to 4,115.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 269.24 points, or 0.81%, to end at 32,910.90. The Nasdaq Composite ended 0.73% lower at 12,086.27.
currencies
US Dollar IndexThe greenback, who tracks the greenback against a basket of his peers, was at 102.542 in a turbulent week, which has seen it move from a low of below 102 to almost 102.8.
Japanese yen 134.41 per dollar, which was weaker than the level of 132 seen earlier in the week. Australian Dollar $0.7191, still lower than the level above $0.725 seen last week.