Japanese futures pointed up, with Nikkei futures in both Chicago and Osaka edging higher by 0.04 percent at 19,690 against the Nikkei 225’s Monday close of 19,682.57.
Australian SPI futures added 0.04 percent to trade at 5,709 compared to the S&P/ASX 200’s close of 5,707.072 yesterday.
Markets in Hong Kong and China are closed today for a public holiday. Stateside, markets in the U.S. were closed on Monday for Memorial Day.
In currency news, the dollar strengthened against a basket of six rival currencies to trade at 97.589 after holding steady in the last session around the 97.4 handle. The dollar hit a near six and a half month low last week. Dollar/yen was steady, trading at 111.22.
The British pound recovered after falling last week following polls showing U.K. Prime Minister Teresa May’s lead had narrowed ahead of a snap election next week. With U.K. markets closed yesterday for a bank holiday, the pound strengthened to trade at $1.2827 compared to the $1.27 handle seen last Friday.
Meanwhile, the euro remained steady following comments made by European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi while addressing the European Parliament. The euro traded at $1.135 against the dollar, off highs around the $1.12 level seen last week. In his speech, Draghi acknowledged growth in the euro zone but said “an extraordinary amount of monetary policy support” remained “necessary.”
“It’s now only a week out from the ECB meeting and you can’t get much clearer than that. The ECB will then unveil its new inflation forecasts; an about turn from the ECB signalling a winding down of QE would be a big surprise to the market,” National Australia Bank Senior Economist David de Garis wrote in a note.
Oil prices were cautiously higher in the last session following reports of U.S. drillers adding rigs. Brent crude gained 14 cents to settle at $52.29 a barrel while U.S. West Texas International (WTI) crude added 19 cents to settle at $49.99.
In economic news, Japan household spending and retail sales for the month of April are expected at 7:30 a.m. and 7:50 a.m. HK/SIN respectively.