Back in Asia, futures implied a lower open for equities in Japan. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were down 0.4 percent at 19,785 and Osaka futures were 0.58 percent lower at 19,750 at 6:12 a.m. HK/SIN. The Nikkei 225 closed at 19,865.82 in the previous session.
Down Under, SPI futures were most unchanged, trading higher by 0.05 percent at 5,747 compared to the S&P/ASX 200’s Wednesday close of 5,744.256.
On Wall Street, stocks closed at record levels despite mostly flat trade during the session. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.18 percent, or 39.32, to close at 22,158.18 and the S&P 500 advanced 0.08 percent to end at 2,498.37.
Despite a fall in Apple stock, the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.09 percent to finish the session at 6,460.19. Taiwan-listed Apple suppliers had closed down on Wednesday, although South Korean Apple suppliers fared slightly better.
The economic calendar for Thursday is fairly packed, with a barrage of China data expected to be closely watched by investors (all times HK/SIN):
- 9:30 a.m.: Australia August labor force
- 10:00 a.m.: China fixed asset investment, industrial production and retail sales
- 2:30 p.m.: India wholesale price index
- 4:00 p.m.: China new yuan loans
- 4:40 p.m.: Hong Kong industrial production
Outside of Asia, the Bank of England will announce its interest rate decision at 7:00 p.m. HK/SIN. The central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged. The unemployment rate in the country dropped to 4.3 percent in the three months ending in July, but wage growth failed to impress, Reuters reported.
On the energy front, Brent crude rose 89 cents to settle at $55.16 a barrel and U.S. crude added $1.07 to settle at $49.30. The gains in oil prices came after the International Energy Agency said the oversupply of crude was beginning to shrink, according to Reuters.