The ASX200 is likely to rise in early morning trading today, with ASX Futures pointing to a 13-point or 0.2% gain for the Aussie bourse.
This optimism comes from small but continued gains in US markets, which have been advancing despite caution over US inflation data and big bank earnings to be released later this week.
Tech giants Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) were the main cause for the market’s buoyancy, rising between 0.9% and 3.7%, while leading chip manufacturer Nvidia continued its upward momentum, hitting a record high with a 2.3% bump.
Nvidia benefited from sector-wide success, as TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, beat fourth-quarter revenue expectations.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) showed some signs of recovering from the aerospace manufacturer’s latest controversy, when a blown airplane door mid-flight grounded 170 jets, now for a fourth day.
The plane maker’s stock gained 0.9%, having shed 9.3% in the last two trading days.
Crypto stocks were mixed as confusion reigned over the SEC’s approval of bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) – the SEC’s official Twitter account was hacked, sending out a premature message of approval just hours before the regulator intended to distribute the message themselves.
After retracting that original false statement, the SEC has now approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs. Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) fell 0.5% in response but Bitfarms (TSX-V:BITF) rose 2.7%.
The Dow Jones index rose by 171 points or 0.5%, the S&P 500 index gained 0.6% and the Nasdaq index added 112 points or 0.8%.
In Europe, positive sentiment waned as hopes for early interest rate cuts were dashed. The markets fell as the Central Bank reaffirmed its stance that the euro zone’s near-term prospects are weak.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index dipped 0.2% and the UK FTSE 100 index fell by 0.4%.
Currencies and commodities
The US dollar had a mixed trading session against major currencies.
The Euro appreciated from US$1.0921 to US$1.0970, closing near US$1.0965 in the US.
The Australian dollar declined from US67.11 cents to US66.84 cents, finishing near US66.95 cents at the US close.
The Japanese yen weakened from 144.66 yen per US dollar to 145.81 yen, closing near 145.80 yen.
Global oil prices dropped about 1% on Wednesday after an unexpected increase in US crude stockpiles, sparking concerns over demand.
US crude inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels in the week ending January 5, reaching 432.4 million barrels, contrary to analysts' projections of a 700,000-barrel decrease.
Gasoline and distillate stockpiles also saw significant increases, as reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Brent crude declined by US79 cents or 1% to US$76.80 a barrel in response and US Nymex followed, falling by US87 cents or 1.2% to $71.37 a barrel.
Base metal prices also had a mixed performance on Wednesday. Copper futures advanced by 0.9% while aluminium futures experienced a slight decrease of 0.2%.
Gold futures declined by US$5.20 or 0.3% to US$2,027.80 an ounce amidst anticipation of US inflation data, which could influence the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rate adjustments in the current year. Spot gold was trading around US$2,023 an ounce at the US close.
Iron ore futures decreased by US$2.36 or 1.7% to US$138.16 a tonne on Wednesday.
This marked the fifth consecutive day of decline for the steel-making component, as supply increases amidst disappointing demand and an increasing number of Chinese steel mills considering production halts.
On the small cap front
The ASX Small Ordinaries gained 4.2 points or 0.15% yesterday, outpacing the ASX200 as it fell into the red.
You can read about the following and more throughout the day.