Japan stocks set for higher open as Asia-Pacific investors react to Fed meeting minutes

SINGAPORE — Stocks in Japan were set to trade higher at the open as investors in Asia-Pacific react to minutes released overnight from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s November meeting.

Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks, with the Nikkei futures contract in Chicago at 26,325 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 26,360. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 26,296.86.

Meanwhile, shares in Australia dipped in early trade, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.16%.

Investor reaction to minutes from the Fed’s meeting earlier this month will be watched. That summary showed officials at the U.S. central bank discussing ways of providing more accommodation to the economy as the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic continued.

Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined about 173.77 points to close at 29,872.47. The S&P 500 shed 0.2% to finish its trading day at 3,629.65 after reaching an all-time closing high in the previous session. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed as it closed 0.5% higher at 12,094.40.