By CNBC (World News) | Created at 2024-10-18 00:05:35 | Updated at 2024-10-18 02:17:29
2 hours ago
The skyline of the central business district in Beijing on August 13, 2019. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
WANG ZHAO | AFP | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set for a mixed open on Friday, as investors awaited key economic data from China and assessed Japan's inflation numbers.
China is set to release its house prices index for September at 9:30 a.m. local time.
China's third-quarter GDP is expected to come in at 4.5%, as estimated by economists in a Reuters poll, compared with 4.7% growth in the prior quarter.
For September, economists expect a mixed picture in China's economy, with urban investment estimated to grow 3.3% year on year, slower than 3.4% in the prior month, while retail sales could rise 2.5% on year, faster growth than last month's 2.1%, according to data from LSEG.
Industrial output is expected to expand 4.5% in September from a year ago.
Japan's headline inflation for September came in at 2.5%, while core CPI rose 2.4% year on year compared with Reuters estimates of 2.3%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 appeared set for a stronger open, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,285 and their counterpart in Osaka at 39,180 against the index's last close of 38,911.19.
Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 19,974, comapred with its previous close of 20,079.1.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 started the day down 0.42%.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to a new record close after strong economic data eased lingering fears of a potential recession. The blue-chip index rose 161 points, or 0.37%, to 43,239.05.
The S&P 500 closed down 0.02% to settle at 5,841.47 after hitting an intraday record earlier in the session.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.04% inched higher, as chipmakers rallied, to end at 18,373.61.
All three indexes are tracking for their sixth straight positive week.
— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
China funds pull back
The iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) headed for its worst week in about two years as investors continued pumping the breaks on trades tied to the Asian country.
The exchange-traded fund has dropped more than 8% this week. If that holds through Friday's closing bell, it would mark the worst week for the fund since October 2022, when it slid more than 9% in one week.
iShares MSCI China ETF this week
See the stocks moving after hours
These are some of the stocks making notable moves in extended trading:
- Netflix — The streaming stock popped more than 4% after third-quarter earnings surpassed expectations. Netflix also said its ad-tier memberships jumped 35% quarter over quarter.
- Intuitive Surgical — Shares jumped about 5% after the maker of the da Vinci surgical robot released stronger-than-expected results for the third quarter. Intuitive Surgical earned $1.84 per share on $2.04 billion in revenue, while analysts surveyed by LSEG had predicted earnings of $1.63 per share on $2 billion in revenue.
— Alex Harring
Stocks head for winning week
Stocks are on track to finish the week with gains, extending recent winning streaks.
The Dow and S&P 500 have climbed 0.9% and 0.5%, respectively this week. The Nasdaq Composite has ticked up by almost 0.2%.
All three are on track to notch their sixth straight winning weeks. That would mark the longest weekly positive streaks for the Dow and S&P 500 in 2024.
Small caps have outperformed this week, with the Russell 2000 adding more than 2%.
— Alex Harring
