Australia, Victoria, Melbourne, buildings on bank of Yarra river
Peter Adams | Stone | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed Thursday, after Wall Street gained on strong bank earnings in a volatile trading session.
Investors have been on edge in recent days as global trade tensions have escalated. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), known to many as Wall Street’s fear gauge, has trended higher over the past week, rising last Friday to more than 21.6, or its most elevated level since late May. The index finished at 20.6 on Wednesday stateside.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 rose 0.16%. Investors will look to the country’s jobs data for September, due out later in the day. Economists polled by Reuters are expecting an unemployment rate of 4.3%, up from 4.2% in August.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was set for a higher open, with its futures contract in Chicago trading at 48,180, and its counterpart in Osaka at 48,060, against the index’s last close of 47,672.67.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was set to open lower, with its futures contract trading at 25,848, against the index’s previous close of 25,910.6.
U.S. equity futures were little changed in early Asian hours after major banks reported earnings beat, as Washington’s government shutdown entered its third week and escalating trade tensions with China persisted.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day little changed, down just 17.15 points, or 0.04% at 46,253.31. At one point in the day, the 30-stock index rose as much as 422.88 points.
The S&P 500 finished 0.4% higher at 6,671.06, after gaining as much as 1.2% intraday. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 0.7% at 22,670.08. It briefly rallied as much as 1.4%.
— CNBC’s Liz Napolitano and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.
