ASX Futures indicate an 82-point or 0.96% increase will buoy the ASX200 in early morning trading, moving the index above its 52-week high.
Despite the increased volatility in global markets due to ongoing geopolitical crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the threatening spectre of more tariffs from US President Donald Trump, Wall Street lifted overnight, enjoying strong rallies.
Tech stocks move markets once again
Materials, Info Tech and Consumer Discretionary stocks were the main sources of strength.
Sony (NYSE:SONY) posted a 5.4% gain after revealing increased Q3 net profits from its game and music segments, while Cisco’s revenue guidance was boosted by continued investment in Artificial Intelligence, lifting the stock 2.1%.
There was also movement in the bigger tech stocks, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) lifting 1.97% on partnering with Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) on AI features, Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) gained 1.32%, Nvidia 3.16% and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) 5.77%.
Elon Musk’s EV stock has been suffering since Trump entered office, falling 25% from all-time highs in December of US$479.86 to US$355.94 per share today.
Today’s rally comes after a report suggested Tesla would receive a $400 million contract for armoured electric vehicles through the US State Department, although there are doubts the deal will eventuate.
The S&P 500 lifted 1.04%, the Dow Jones 0.77% and the Nasdaq rallied 1.5%. Even the small cap Russel 2000 lifted 1.15%.
In Europe, industrial production fell more than expected in December, down 1.1% on a month-on-month basis.
Consumer good company Unilever (LON:ULVR) shed 5.45% from its stock price, British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) Plc fell 8.84% and Barclays (LON:BARC) slipped almost 5%.
On the other side of the balance sheet, Coca-cola co lifted 1.15%, Mondi Plc (LON:MNDI) 5.16% and BAE Systems (LON:BAES) 3.18%.
The UK FTSE100 index fell by 0.55%, while the FTSE300 enjoyed a 1.14% lift.
Currencies and commodities
The US dollar weakened in overnight trading, falling against all three currencies in our basket.
The Euro lifted from US$1.0377 to close near US$1.0460, the Aussie from US62.54 cents to close near US63.15 cents and the Japanese Yen lifted from JPY154.38 per US dollar to around JPY152.75.
Oil prices fell as Ukraine-Russian peace negotiations calmed energy supply fears, lopping 0.2% off Brent Crude (US$75.02 per barrel) and 0.1% off US Nymex to US$71.29 per barrel.
Copper and aluminium moved in opposite directions in response to new US tariffs, with Copper futures rising 1.5% and aluminium falling 0.6%.
Iron ore also fell as US steel tariffs and potential new taxes from India pressured the market, despite supply constraints from Western Australia. Iron ore futures fell 0.5% to US$106.77 per tonne.
Gold continued to climb amid high global uncertainty, lifted 0.6% to US$2,945.40 per ounce. Spot gold was trading at near US$2,928 at the US close.