SINGAPORE — Shares in Japan were set to rise at the Friday open as investors in Asia-Pacific react to the release of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package.
Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contracts in Chicago and Osaka were both at 28,850. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 28,698.26.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia were higher in early trading, with the S&P/ASX 200 up about 0.3%.
Hong Kong-listed shares of CNOOC will be monitored by investors on Friday. The U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday it had added the firm to its entity list, which essentially restricts firms from receiving specific goods made in the U.S.
Biden’s Covid relief plan
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday revealed details of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package.
Biden’s proposal, called the American Rescue Plan, includes some familiar stimulus measures in the hope of sustaining families and companies till vaccines are widely distributed. Some of the proposed measures include stimulus checks as well as unemployment support.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.245 following levels above 90.4 seen earlier.
The Japanese yen traded at 103.80 per dollar, stronger than levels above 104 against the greenback seen earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7777, having seen levels below $0.77 earlier in the trading week.
What’s on tap:
- South Korea: Bank of Korea interest rate decision at 9:00 a.m. HK/SIN
— CNBC’s Tom Franck contributed to this report.
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