Nikkei 225, Hang Seng Index set to rise

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Wednesday, tracking Wall Street gains on hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve could cut benchmark interest rates in December.

Expectations rose after Bloomberg reported that White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett was being considered as the frontrunner to become the next Fed chair. Investors see Hassett as someone more likely to push the central bank toward a lower-rate environment favored by President Donald Trump.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday that there was a “very good chance” that Trump could name new Fed chair before Christmas.

Markets are pricing in more than 84% chance that the Fed would cut rates in December, according to the CME FedWatch tool. New York Fed President John Williams also said on Friday that there was room to lower rates “in the near term.“

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was set for a higher open, with its futures contract in Chicago trading at 49,120, and its counterpart in Osaka at 49,100, against the index’s Tuesday close of 48,659.52.

Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 was trading 1.2% higher on open.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index pointed to a higher open, trading at 25,977, against the index’s previous close of 25,894.55.

Overnight, the key U.S. benchmarks closed higher after a volatile session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 664.18 points, or 1.43%, to close at 47,112.45. The S&P 500 gained 0.91% to settle at 6,765.88, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.67% to finish at 23,025.59. That marks a turnaround from the losses seen earlier in the day.

At session lows, the S&P 500 was down about 0.7%, while the Dow and tech-heavy Nasdaq had dropped more than 100 points, or 0.2%, and more than 1%, respectively.

— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.