Shanghai Bund skyline panorama
Yangna | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher on Monday as investors awaited trade data from China due later in the day.
Economists polled by Reuters expect China’s exports in November to rise 3.8% from a year earlier, reversing the 1.1% contraction in October. Imports are expected to increase 3% in the same period, up from 1% the month before.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.18%, while the Topix added 0.15%. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.2% higher, and the small-cap Kosdaq traded 0.37% higher.
Revisions released by Tokyo on Monday show Japan’s economy shrank more sharply between July and September than first estimated. Official data showed that third-quarter GDP fell at an annualized rate of 2.3%, worse than economists’ median forecast of a 2.0% drop and a preliminary reading of a 1.8% decline.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 slid 0.17%. Investors will be keeping an eye on the upcoming Reserve Bank of Australia decision as it kicks off its two-day meeting.
According to a Reuters poll of economists, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to maintain its cash rate at 3.60% on Tuesday and keep it there through 2026.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index pointed to a higher open, trading at 26,121, against the index’s previous close of 26,085.08.
Last Friday in the U.S, the three major averages closed higher as the market sorted through a fresh slate of U.S. economic releases. The S&P 500 edged higher to secure its fourth straight winning day, closing 0.19% higher at 6,870.40 and putting the index about 0.7% off its intraday record.
The Nasdaq Composite increased 0.31% to settle at 23,578.13, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 104.05 points, or 0.22%, to end the day at 47,954.99.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.