Australia and Japan markets set to climb, looking past Iran war escalation fears

australia and japan markets are set to open higher tuesday, tracking wall street's gains. the s&p 500 rose 1.02% to a record close of 7,209.01 — its first above 7,200. the nasdaq composite also hit new intraday and closing records, up 0.89%. futures for australia's s&p/asx 200 sat at 8,795, above its last close of 8,665.8. japan's nikkei 225 futures in chicago were at 59,765, with the osaka contract at 59,720, compared to the previous close of 59,284.92. investors looked past weak us gdp data — the economy grew at a 2% annualized pace in q1, below the 2.2% consensus — and threats of escalation in iran. brent crude briefly topped $126 a barrel after axios reported the us military would brief trump on potential action, but closed at $110.40. wti settled at $105.71. most major asian markets are closed for the may day holiday.