In a photo taken on November 4, 2019 a subway train crosses a rail bridge over the Han river, before the skyline of the Yeouido business district of Seoul.
Ed Jones | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are mostly set to open higher on Monday, with investors looking ahead to a week of central bank decisions from around the region.
Three central banks are set to release their interest rate decisions this week, namely the Bank of Korea, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Reserve Bank of India.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the BOK and RBNZ to cut rates, while the RBI will hold.
The BOK on Friday is expected to lower its benchmark interest rate to 3.25% from 3.5%, while the RBNZ is expected to enact a 50-basis-point cut to 4.75% on Wednesday.
Back in August, the RBNZ surprised economists after it lowered its policy rate to 5.25% from 5.5%
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,925 and its counterpart in Osaka at 39,560 compared to the previous close of 38,635.62.
However, Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 22,640, lower than the HSI’s last close of 22,736.87.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 opened up marginally.
Over in the U.S, stocks advanced on Friday after a stronger-than-expected jobs report gave investors confidence around the health of the economy.
Data showed nonfarm payrolls grew by 254,000 jobs in September, far outpacing the forecasted gain of 150,000 from economists polled by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1% despite expectations for it to hold steady at 4.2%.
The S&P 500 rose 0.9%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.22%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.81% to notch an all-time closing high of 42,352.75.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to this report.