Japan trade, Japan household spending

Asia-Pacific markets were set to extend gains from Thursday, tracking moves on Wall Street with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising for a seventh straight day on rate cut hopes.

Japan’s overall household spending in March fell 1.2% year on year, less than the 2.4% expected by a Reuters poll of economists. However, on a month-on-month basis, household spending rose 1.2%, compared with estimates of a 0.3% drop.

Investors will also assess Japan’s trade balance data.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 looks set to rise, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,460 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,430 against the index’s last close of 38,073.98.

Futures for the S&P/ASX 200 also point to a stronger open at 7,767, compared to its last close of 7,721.6.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,642, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s close of 18,537.81. Should the index reach the futures level, it would be its highest in about nine months.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes climbed as fresh weekly jobless claims data came in at the highest level since August, raising expectations that central bankers might cut interest rates at some point this year.

The 30-stock Dow jumped 0.85% to notch its longest win streak since a nine-day run in December. The S&P 500 added 0.51%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.27%.

— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.