People walk through Shibuya on June 23, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
Carl Court | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly set to rise on Friday after economic data from the U.S. calmed recessionary fears.
Initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell to 231,000 from the prior week’s 232,000, but were slightly higher than the 230,000 expected by Dow Jones.
In addition, the second-quarter gross domestic product growth was revised higher to 3% from the initial 2.8% rate.
In Asia, investors assessed a slew of economic data from Japan, including the inflation rate for the capital city of Tokyo, which rose to 2.6% from June’s 2.2%.
Tokyo inflation is widely considered to be a leading indicator of nationwide trends.
Unemployment in Japan rose to 2.7%, more than Reuters estimate of 2.5%.
Japan will also release its retail sales figures later Friday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures also pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,510 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,390 compared to the previous close of 38,362.53.
Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stood at 8,060, slightly higher than its last close of 8,045.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 17,741, lower than the HSI’s last close of 17,786.32
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a new record, up 0.59% and closing at 41,335.05. Gains in Goldman Sachs, Intel and Visa helped lift the blue-chip average to a new high.
The S&P 500 ended the session just below the flatline, but the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.23%, dragged by shares of chipmaker Nvidia, which slid 6.4%.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Sarah Min contributed to this report.