Bank of Japan meeting minutes

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher on Christmas Eve, after key U.S. benchmarks rose overnight helped by gains in tech stocks.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,305 and its counterpart in Osaka at 39,300 compared to the index’s previous close of 39,161.34. The Bank of Japan is slated to release the minutes of its October meeting.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 19,924, higher than the HSI’s last close of 19,883.13.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded slightly above the flatline in a shortened trading day.

Traders will monitor any developments related to the planned merger of Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda, which announced Monday that they had started formal discussions to merge, paving the pay to create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales. Discussions are set to conclude in June 2025.

Overnight in the U.S., stocks rose as strength in technology names helped the broader market.

The S&P 500 gained 0.73% to 5,974.07. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.98% to 19,764.89, as Tesla and Meta Platforms added more than 2% and Nvidia climbed more than 3%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased earlier losses and ended the day 66.69 points higher, or 0.16%, to 42,906.95.

Trading was thin on Monday and is expected to remain muted during the week. The New York Stock Exchange closes early Tuesday for Christmas Eve at 1 p.m. ET, and the market is shut on Christmas Day.

—CNBC’s Yun Li contributed to this report.