Australia stocks open higher as Asian markets resume trading after New Year’s Day holiday

Australia stocks opened higher with other Asian markets set to resume trading after New Year’s Day holiday.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.17% at open, while Nikkei 225 Chicago futures were trading at 39,605, lower than the index’s last close of 39,894.54

Traders in Asia will also look toward Singapore’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product. The GDP is forecast to have expanded 3.3% from a year ago, according to a Reuters poll.

Other economic indicators on tap include China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI for December. Economists anticipate manufacturing activity to come in at 51.7, a modestly higher compared with 51.5 in November, according to LSEG data.

Markets in Japan remained closed on Thursday and Friday for Bank holiday.

U.S. stock futures were little changed as traders geared up for a fresh year, after all three major indexes logged double-digit annual gains.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.06%, Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.17%.

The S&P 500 recorded an annual gain of over 20% for a second straight year, jumping 23.31%, building on a gain of 24.2% in 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 12.88% last year while the Nasdaq was up by 28.64%.

—CNBC’s Christina Cheddar Berk contributed to this report.