Asia-Pacific markets start the day in the green<\/p>\n
Asia-Pacific markets kicked off the trading day higher.<\/p>\n
Japan’s benchmark\u00a0Nikkei 225<\/a>\u00a0rose 0.51% at the open, while the Topix added 0.81%. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1% and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.94%.<\/p>\n Australia’s\u00a0S&P\/ASX 200<\/a>\u00a0was 0.14% higher.<\/p>\n \u2014Lee Ying Shan<\/p>\n Here are your opening calls from Singapore<\/p>\n Aerial View of the City Illuminated at Sunset<\/p>\n Deejpilot | E+ | Getty Images<\/p>\n Good morning from Singapore! The weather forecast is a bit bleak, but Asia-Pacific markets appear set for a bright open.<\/p>\n Futures for Japan’s benchmark\u00a0Nikkei 225<\/a> in Chicago were at 39,795, while their counterpart in Osaka last traded at 39,740 compared with the index’s last close of 39,646.36.<\/p>\n Futures for Hong Kong’s\u00a0Hang Seng index<\/a>\u00a0stood at 24,032, pointing to a slightly higher open compared to the HSI’s last close of 24,028.37.<\/p>\n Australia’s\u00a0S&P\/ASX 200<\/a>\u00a0was also set to start the day slightly higher with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,600, compared to its last close of 8,589.2.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lee Ying Shan<\/p>\n Stock futures open little changedS&P 500, Nasdaq notch record closing highs<\/p>\n The S&P 500<\/a> notched a new all-time closing high on Thursday. The broad market benchmark rose 0.27% and closed at 6,280.46.<\/p>\n The Nasdaq Composite<\/a> also closed at a record high for the second day in a row, gaining 0.09% to end at 20,630.67.<\/p>\n The Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> added 192.34 points, or 0.43%, to finish at 44,650.64.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lisa Kailai Han<\/p>\n Bitcoin sets another record above $113,000<\/p>\n Romain Costaseca | Afp | Getty Images<\/p>\n Bitcoin<\/a>\u00a0climbed to new all-time high of $113,863.31 on Thursday, building on its previous record\u00a0reached just a day earlier<\/a>, as investors jumped into risk assets and liquidated short positions.<\/p>\n Over the past 24 hours, $318 million in short liquidations have occurred across centralized exchanges, according to CoinGlass.<\/p>\n Altcoins, or cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin, joined the rally for a second day after many investors had\u00a0started to lose hope<\/a>\u00a0that they would show signs of life this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bitcoin has\u00a0traded in a tight range for several weeks<\/a>\u00a0despite billions of dollars flowing into bitcoin exchange traded funds, which has helped the price stay above the $100,000 level for more than 60 consecutive days. Public companies have also been on a bitcoin buying spree and\u00a0outpaced bitcoin ETF inflows in the second quarter<\/a>.<\/p>\n