Asia-Pacific markets set for higher open after S&P 500 and Dow hit new highs: Live updates

Asia-Pacific markets are set to open higher on Thursday, following gains on Wall Street that saw the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average reach new records as investors shook off geopolitical concerns.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.47% in early trading.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a higher open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,830 and its counterpart in Osaka at 39,690 compared to the previous close of 39,277.96.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 21,070, higher than the HSI’s last close of 20,637.24.

Traders in Asia will assess data from September on the prices of corporate goods out of Japan. Economists polled by Reuters expect the inflation rate to come in at 2.3%, down from 2.5% in August.

Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 rallied 0.71% to end at 5,792.04 after hitting an all-time high, while the 30-stock Dow surged 431.63 points, or 1.03%, to reach 42,512 for a record close. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6% to end at 18,291.62.

Wall Street maintained its gains after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, in which it cut by a half percentage point, revealed that a “substantial majority of participants” had favored reducing interest rates by the larger amount.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Sarah Min contributed to this report.