Meanwhile, Nikkei futures in Chicago were 1.05 percent higher at 18,860 points, while futures in Osaka climbed 0.67 percent to 18,790, against the benchmark close of 18,664.63 points. Australian SPI futures traded 0.06 percent higher at 5,866, compared to the ASX 200 close of 5,862.469 points.
Stateside, U.S. equities closed flat in reaction to the missile strike, with the S&P 500 shedding 0.08 percent to 2,355.54 points, the Dow Jones industrial average tracking lower by 0.03 percent to close at 20,656.10 and the Nasdaq down by 0.02 percent to finish at 5,877.81. This was also on the back of a mixed jobs report, which saw just 98,000 jobs added in March, below expectations of 180,000 new jobs.
“Now that the U.S. nonfarm payroll is over, traders are going to put their focus back on the Fed, who have been talking about winding down their balance sheet. The Fed need to be very careful in their approach of conveying their message while they release their purchased bonds back on the market,” Think Markets chief market analyst Naeem Aslam said in a note.
The dollar was higher against a basket of currencies at 101.240, its highest level in nearly 3 weeks. The dollar/yen traded at 111.28, higher compared to levels around 110.86 seen last week while the Aussie was softer at $0.7499, versus the $0.76 handle seen last week.
In corporate news, miner Rio Tinto reported paying $4 billion in taxes and royalties last year after it was ordered to pay an extra $284 million with interest due to its operations in tax-friendly destinations. The news comes as the Australian Taxation Office paid greater attention to the amount of taxes paid by multinational corporations based in Australia.
On the energy front, Brent crude was up 0.24 percent at $55.37 a barrel while U.S. crude was higher by 0.36 percent to $ 52.43 a barrel.
Economic data expected today includes Australia February home loans and outstanding loan growth for the month of March from China later in the day.
