Train loaded with coal ready to leave a coal mine belonging to China Energy Investment Corporation on January 14, 2023 in Ejin Horo Banner, Ordos city, China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Wang Zheng | China Visual Group | fake images
Asia-Pacific markets are expected to open higher on Friday as some markets return from the Boxing Day holiday and investors keep an eye on a host of economic data in the region.
Australia S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.49% higher as trading resumed after the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger opening for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,745 and its counterpart in Osaka at 39,700 compared to the previous close of 39,568.06.
Asian traders will assess Japan’s unemployment rate in November as well as Tokyo’s CPI due later in the day. China is also expected to release its November industrial profit figures.
Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased earlier losses and made a small profit in thin trading Thursday after the market’s back-to-back strong gains at the start of the holiday week.
The blue-chip Dow closed the day up 28.77 points, or 0.07%, at 43,325.80 after losing about 182 points earlier in the session. He S&P 500 fell 2.45 points, or 0.04%, to 6,037.59. He Nasdaq Composite also ended the day lower, falling less than 0.1% to 20,020.36.
—CNBC’s Yun Li contributed to this report.
