Asia-Pacific markets set to open higher, tracking Wall Street gains after key benchmarks hit new records

Asia-Pacific markets are set to open higher on Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rose to new records.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.6% higher.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,715 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,620 compared to the previous close of 38,513.02.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 19,628, higher than the HSI’s last close of 19,550.29.

Traders are preparing for a wave of economic reports and comments from Federal Reserve officials that will influence the future direction of interest rates.

South Korea’s inflation rate climbed in November to 1.5% year on year, higher than October’s inflation reading of 1.3%, and lower than the 1.7% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 added 0.24% to close at 6,047.15. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.97% and ended at 19,403.95. Both indexes touched fresh all-time intraday highs and closed at records.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.29%, or 128.65 points, closing at 44,782.00. The blue-chip index briefly topped the 45,000 level during the day, a key threshold it hit a few times last week.

Traders will be monitoring the the U.S. November payrolls report, due Friday, which can provide insight into the strength of the labor market ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Dec. 17-18. Fed funds futures are currently pricing in a 76% probability that the central bank lowers interest rates during its policy gathering, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.

—CNBC’s Alex Harring and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.