singapore shares in asiapacific looked set for a lower tuesday start as investors await the release of official chinese factory activity data for may futures pointed to a lower open for japanese stocks the nikkei futures contract in chicago was at 27325 while its counterpart in osaka was at 27320 that compared against the nikkei 225s last close at 2736943 australian stocks also appeared poised for a lower start with the spi futures contract at 7283 against the spasx 200s last close at 728660 chinas official manufacturing purchasing managers index for may is set to be released at 930 am hksin on tuesday as investors look for clues on the economic impact of covidrelated lockdowns on the mainland markets in the us were closed on monday for a holiday the us dollar index which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers was at 101668 still off levels above 102 seen last week the japanese yen traded at 12775 per dollar following yesterdays weakening from levels below 1272 against the greenback the australian dollar was at 07189 continuing to move higher after climbing from levels below 071 last week