Asia markets were set to open near flat on Monday, following a decline in U.S. equities last Friday amid lingering concerns on Wall Street about tax reform.
Australia’s SPI futures traded at 5,959, at levels similar to the ASX 200’s Friday close at 5,957.25.
Nikkei futures in Chicago traded at 22,345, while Osaka futures were at 22,310. That pointed to a roughly flat open for the Japanese benchmark index, which finished the previous session at 22,396.8.
One focus for investors: Analysts are cautiously optimistic about the U.S. tax reform getting done this year. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday that he expects a Republican tax reform bill to be sent to President Donald Trump by Christmas.
Mnuchin made his comments a day after the House passed a bill aimed at overhauling the tax code. The Senate now has to vote on its version of a tax plan.
Elsewhere, energy prices will be in focus following reports that Iran exported about 4.26 million barrels of oil from South Pars to international destinations since late March, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.
South Pars is the world’s largest gas field that also has significant oil reserves, reported Reuters.
U.S. crude last traded at $56.55 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent traded at $62.72.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar traded at 93.706 against a basket of currencies at 6:13 a.m. HK/SIN, down from levels near 94.00 in the previous week.
Among other currency majors, the Japanese yen traded at 112.13 to the dollar, while the Australian dollar fetched $0.7561.
In company news, Toshiba said it would raise 600 billion yen ($5.3 billion) from a sale of new shares, according to Reuters. The company needs to raise 750 billion yen by the end of March to plug the hole in its balance sheet following the bankruptcy of its U.S. nuclear power business or it will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, said Reuters.
— CNBC’s Fred Imbert and Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: cnbc china
Asia set to open flat as investors focus on US tax reform