Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after the Dow sets a record.

ASX futures were up 0.4% or 35 points as of 8:30am on Monday, suggesting a higher open.

U.S. stocks closed mostly higher Friday with the Dow Industrials ending above the 40000 mark for the first time.

A tame inflation reading earlier in the week led all three indexes to record levels. The DJIA gained 134 points, or 0.3%, to 40,003, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 5,303 while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1% to 16,685. For the week the Nasdaq rose 2.1%, the S&P 500 added 1.5% and the DJIA gained 1.2%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 0.9% to US$83.98 a barrel, while gold was up 1.6% at US$2,415.22.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was up at 3.90% while the 10 Year yield was also up at 4.21%. US Treasury notes were up, with the 2 Year yield at 4.82% and the 10 Year yield at 4.42%.

The Australian dollar was 66.91 US cents. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was up at 99.16.

Asia

Chinese shares reversed opening losses and closed higher after the central bank and financial regulators eased mortgage rules and urged local governments to buy excess housing to revive the ongoing property crisis. Property stocks led the gains with Greenland Holdings, Poly Developments & Holdings and China Vanke all rising 10% each. Meanwhile, energy stocks declined as investors digested higher tariffs on the solar sector by the Biden administration. Trina Solar and Jinko Solar ended 2.6% and 2.5% lower, respectively. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 1.0% higher at 3154.03, the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.2% and the ChiNext Price Index added 1.1%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.9% higher at 19553.61, led by property stocks. Sentiment improved after China's central bank and financial regulators eased mortgage rules and urged local governments to buy excess housing to help the sector out of its slump. Longfor Group soared 11%, Country Garden Services rose 9.8% and China Overseas Land & Investment was 4.4% higher. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index gained 5.3%. Among decliners, Xinyi Solar fell 8.0%, Li Auto lost 3.8% and Wuxi Biologics was 3.4% lower.

The Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.3% lower at 38787.38 as falls in tech and chemical stocks offset gains in auto and bank shares. M3 dropped 2.9% and Shin-Etsu Chemical fell 1.5% while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group climbed 3.4% and Toyota Motor advanced 2.5%. Broader market index Topix rose 0.3% to 2745.62. Investors are focusing on economic data and their policy implications. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield rose 2.5 bps to 0.945%.

India's benchmark Sensex closed 0.5% higher at 74,005.94 as gains in auto and bank stocks helped offset losses in industrial and tech stocks. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. was up 6.2% and State Bank of India was 0.8% higher, while Larsen & Toubro was down 1.0% and Tata Consultancy Services was 0.6% lower. Among individual movers, Endurance Technologies was up 12% after fourth-quarter net profit climbed 54% on year. Kaynes Technology India was 13% higher after fourth-quarter net profit jumped 97% on year. Earnings remain in focus, with JSW Steel set to report its results later in the day.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. slipped Friday, as the FTSE 100 Index fell 0.2% to 8420.26.

Among large companies, Entain PLC posted the largest decline, dropping 5.5% to GBP722.00, followed by shares of Ashtead Group PLC, which fell 4.5% to GBP5,764.00. Shares of Savills PLC fell 4.3% to GBP1,110.00.

Premier Foods PLC was the biggest gainer during the session, gaining 3.6% to GBP176.20, and Antofagasta PLC gained 3.5% to GBP2,365.00. Fresnillo PLC rounded out the top three movers on Friday, as shares gained 3.4% to GBP615.00.

In Europe, shares closed slightly lower, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index slipping 0.1% to 522.94, Germany's DAX dropping 0.2% to 18,704.42 and France's CAC 40 losing 0.3% to 8,167.50.

North America

U.S. stocks closed mostly higher Friday with the Dow Industrials ending above the 40000 mark for the first time.

The S&P 500 posted a modest gain on strength in energy and materials sectors, while the Nasdaq pulled back as technology faded to end the week.

A tame inflation reading earlier in the week led all three indexes to record levels. The DJIA gained 134 points, or 0.3%, to 40,003, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 5,303 while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1% to 16,685. For the week the Nasdaq rose 2.1%, the S&P 500 added 1.5% and the DJIA gained 1.2%.

AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) was the most-actively traded stock as of Friday‘s close, losing 5.17% to $4.40 per share. Among other actively traded stocks, GameStop Corp (GME) was down 19.73% to $22.21, Tesla (TSLA) was up 1.5% to $177.46, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was up 1.14% to $164.47 per share.