Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, while US stocks rose Friday on confidence the economy is headed for a soft landing.

ASX futures were down 0.17% or 14 points as of 8:00am on Monday, suggesting a lower open.

U.S. stocks ended a good week on a high note on Friday as sentiment around the economy continues to improve, at least for some.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 97 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also each gained 0.2%, bringing all three major indices to their best weekly performance of the year. For the week the S&P 500 gained 3.9%, and it is now off only around 2% from its all-time high in July.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 1.7% to US$79.68 a barrel, while gold was up 2.1% at US$2,508.01.

The Australian dollar was at 66.68 US cents.

Asia

Chinese shares closed mixed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.1% to 2,879.43, and the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 0.3% to 1,548.93.

Hong Kong shares closed higher, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index rising 1.9% to 17,430.16.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 3.6% to 38,062.67.

India shares ended higher/lower. The benchmark BSE SENSEX rose 1.7% to 80,436.84.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. slipped, as the FTSE 100 Index fell 0.4% to 8,311.41.

In Europe, shares closed higher, with Germany's DAX up 0.8% to 18,322.40 and France's CAC 40 rising 0.4% to 7,449.70.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher.

DJIA added 0.2%, to 40,659.76, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 5,554.25 and the Nasdaq gained 0.2% to 17,631.72.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were DexCom Inc, surging 3.2%, Ulta Beauty Inc jumped 3.1%, and Tapestry Inc lifted 3.1%.

The biggest decliners were Amcor PLC which dropped 3.7%, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc fell 2.8% and Palo Alto Networks Inc lost 2.7%.