Asia-Pacific markets set to climb as China central bank in focus; S&P, Dow set fresh records

Asia-Pacific markets are mostly set to climb on Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street after the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average touched new closing highs in Monday's trading session.

The broad market index added 0.28% to end at 5,718.57, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 61.29 points, or 0.15%, to close at 42,124.65.

Traders in Asia will look toward a rare briefing by the People's Bank of China, after authorities announced that PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng will hold a press conference at 9 a.m. on "financial support for high-quality economic development."

The briefing is set to begin before Chinese markets open at 9:30 a.m. Currently, futures for the mainland Chinese CSI 300 are at 3,205.6, slightly lower than its last close of 3,212.76.

Australia's central bank will also announce its rate decision on Tuesday, with economists polled by Reuters expecting the RBA to hold rates at 4.35%.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a note last week that the economic data flow since the last meeting "has either been softer or in line with the RBA's expectations." As such, CBA expects a slightly less hawkish statement, but does not see a material shift in language or tone. 

Futures for Australia's S&P/ASX 200 stood at 8,196 compared to its last close of 8,152.9 and nearing its all-time closing high set on Friday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,280 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,090 compared to the previous close of 37,723.91. If the index opens and holds at those levels, it would be the first time that the index has crossed the 38,000 mark since Sept. 3.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 18,462, higher than the HSI's last close of 18,247.11.

Overnight in the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.14%, also mirroring gains made by the other two major U.S. indexes.

—CNBC's Brian Evans and Alex Harring contributed to this report.