Asia-Pacific markets rise after Wall Street benchmarks hit record highs

Asia-Pacific stocks rose Tuesday, after key Wall Street benchmarks hit record highs overnight as investors assessed the resilience in corporate earnings amid tariff risks.

Investors in the region will be keeping a close watch on Japanese markets, which reopened after the ruling party lost its majority in the upper house following an election over the weekend.

Asia-Pacific markets start the higher

Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Tuesday.

As of 8.10 a.m. Singapore time (8.10 p.m. ET), Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark added 0.91% while the broader Topix index increased by 0.83%.

In South Korea, the Kospi index ticked up 0.1% while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.7%.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark rose 0.54%.

Here are the opening calls for the day

Good morning from Singapore.

Investors will be keeping a close watch on Japan's equity and bond markets, which will reopen after a national holiday following its election.

The Japanese yen strengthened against the greenback on Monday, after weakening in the weeks leading up to the election.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,830 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 39,820, against the index's last close of 39,819.11.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 25,049, pointing to a stronger open compared with the HSI's Monday close of 24,994.14.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was set to start the day lower with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,660, compared with its last close of 8,668.20.

U.S. equity futures rise in early Asia hours

U.S. equity futures rose in early Asia hours after the broad-based S&P 500 index and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hit fresh record highs overnight.

As of 7:35 a.m. Singapore time (7:35 p.m. ET Monday), S&P 500 futures moved up 0.06%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.03%. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 47 points or 0.11%.

'Small surprises could trigger sharp reactions,' strategist says

The stock market may be unusually calm, with the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) remaining notably muted all month in spite of ongoing risks around trade and inflation, one strategist said. However, that could change quickly in the coming weeks.

“With next week bringing the FOMC meeting, GDP data, a key tariff deadline, and a wave of earnings — in a historically weak window for the markets — even small surprises could trigger sharp reactions,” wrote Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide. “We're in a window where calm can quickly turn to complacency.”

“While a break in either direction is possible, current positioning suggests we'd bet on a rally before a drop,” Hackett wrote.

S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record closing highs

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite finished Monday's session with fresh closing records after both indexes scored new all-time intraday highs.

The broad market S&P 500 gained 0.14% to close at 6,305.60, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.38% to end at 20,974.17. In contrast, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 19.12 points, or 0.04%, to finish at 44,323.07.