Pedestrians walking across a crowded traffic at Shibuya crossing square in Tokyo, Japan.
Jaczhou | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are set to open slightly lower on Friday as U.S. stock futures remained flat over Thanksgiving Day, with the Nasdaq Composite on track to end a seven-month winning streak.
Traders in Asia will assess key economic data from across the region, including inflation data from Tokyo, a leading indicator of where national inflation is heading. Investors will also watch India’s GDP for its fiscal second quarter, ending September, later on Friday.
Headline inflation in Tokyo for October dipped slightly to 2.7% from 2.8% the month before, while core inflation came in at 2.8%, slightly higher than the 2.7% expected by economists polled by Reuters. Core inflation in Japan strips out prices of fresh food but includes energy prices.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day down 0.18%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a marginally weaker open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 50,160 and its counterpart in Osaka at 50,080 compared to the previous close of 50,167.1
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 25,935, lower than the HSI’s last close of 25,945.93.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes were little changed. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose just 10 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures traded just above the flatline.
Stocks are on pace for a losing month when trading resumes on Friday. A pullback in tech stocks has weighed on the major averages in November, as doubt swirled around the future profitability of AI companies.
Yet some investors are hopeful that this month’s slide will signal a year-end rally for the major averages, as they step in to buy stocks that have been unduly punished at more attractive valuations.
U.S. markets were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving Day. The stock market will close early at 1 p.m. ET on Friday.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.