U.S. stocks rose and the dollar firmed ahead of Asia’s Monday trading day on investor optimism that a plan to reduce corporate taxes would be passed stateside.

Republicans unveiled their final tax plan on Friday as two holdout GOP senators indicated they would support the tax bill after compromises were made. Among the provisions that made the cut was a reduction in the corporate tax rate from the existing 35 percent to 21 percent, with effect from 2018.

Republicans intend to pass the measures by the middle of this week.

U.S. stocks closed at record levels. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.58 percent, or 143.08 points, to close at 24,651.74, the S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent to finish the session at 2,675.81 and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.17 percent to end at 6,936.58.

The dollar firmed in the previous session. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, rose as high as 93.997 on Friday. At 6:34 a.m. HK/SIN, the dollar index stood at 93.987.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar inched higher to trade at 112.59.

In Asia Pacific equities, futures pointed a higher open for Japanese equities at the open after the Nikkei 225 came under pressure in the last trading session. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were up 0.78 percent at 22,730 and Osaka futures were 0.56 percent higher at 22,680.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.48 percent in early trade as resource and financials stocks gave a boost to the overall index. ANZ shares were up 1.31 percent and Rio Tinto climbed 1.47 percent.

Meanwhile, CME launched its bitcoin futures contract at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, or 7 a.m. HK/SIN, under the ticker “BTC.” The front-month contract opened at $20,650, compared with to the spot price of $18,915.525 seen on the CoinDesk index at 7:25 a.m. HK/SIN.

That came on the heels of bitcoin futures beginning trade on the Cboe Futures Exchange on Dec. 11. Those moves come as investor interest in the cryptocurrency grows following the rapid rise in bitcoin prices this year.

Shares of Obayashi Corp. are in focus following Nikkei headlines that Japanese prosecutors are likely to raid the company’s offices as part of a bid-rigging investigation. Other Japanese construction companies also involved in the probe are Taisei Corporation, Shimizu Corporation and Kajima Corporation, Nikkei said.

Meanwhile, stock exchange operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing announced plans on Friday to loosen existing listing rules in a bid to improve competitiveness. In its proposal are plans to allow the listings of biotechnology issuers in the pre-profit stage and to accept issuers with dual share classes, subject to safeguards.

Here’s the economic calendar for Monday (all times in HK/SIN):

• 7:50 a.m.: Japan November balance of trade
• 8:30 a.m.: Singapore November non-oil exports
• 9:30 a.m.: China house price index
• 12:00 p.m.: Malaysia October unemployment rate