The ASX 200 is set to lift 0.44% or 36 points as of 9:00 am AEDT, as US core inflation hit 0.3% for the month of October and markets bet there will be an interest rate cut over the pond before the end of the year.
Annual general meetings for several major stocks are on the cards today, including Cettire, Goodman Group (ASX:GMG), Guzman Y Gomez and Seven Group.
GrainCorp and Xero will also report their earnings numbers this morning.
US and European markets
There was mixed movement in US markets overnight, with all three major indices making an initial strong showing during trading before retreating.
Treasury yields lifted 12 basis points to 4.43% and the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index 0.4%.
Bitcoin surged to new heights, gaining 8.58% to more than US$93,000, fuelled by heavy demand, particularly in the US.
Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) was the fourth-most traded product amongst all ETFs, trading US1.2 billion in volume in the first hour of the session.
Rate-sensitive real estate and consumer discretionary stocks lifted between 0.7% and 1.1%.
Oil prices rose after falling to a near two-week low, lifting by about 0.5% and pushing energy stocks up 0.8%.
Amazon’s launch of online storefront Haul lifted the tech stock 2.5% as the retail giant positions itself to challenge Temu’s low-cost goods market.
Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) stocks rose 3.6% after the cable operator agreed to acquire Liberty Broadband in an all-stock deal.
Banking stocks lifted the Dow Jones, gaining between 0.3% and 0.7%, but Nvidia’s 1.4% loss muted overall gains to the index, as the Philadelphia semiconductor index slipped 2%.
The Dow lifted by 0.1% or 47 points, the S&P500 finished flat and the Nasdaq shed 0.3% or 51 points.
In Europe, markets were again flat.
Rate-sensitive stocks moved in the other direction as sticky inflation stayed the hands of the continent’s central banks, with real estate slipping 1.4%.
Energy stocks, boosted by lifting oil, rose 1.3% but overall made little difference.
Bank of France head and European Central Bank member Francois Villeroy de Galhau cautioned a return to inflation is likely under Trump’s economic agenda, which he believes will reduce economic growth globally.
The FTSE300 ended flat, while the UK FTSE100 managed a 0.1% lift.
Currencies and commodities
The US dollar gained overall in trading last night, lifting as treasury yields gained.
The Euro fell from US$1.0648 to near US$1.0565, the Aussie from US65.43 cents to US64.85 cents and the Japanese Yen from JPY154.35 to near JPY155.50 at the US close.
Brent crude rose by US39 cents or 0.5% to US$72.28 a barrel and US Nymex lifted by 31 cents, or 0.5%, reaching US$68.43 per barrel.
In base metals, prices retreated as the US dollar strengthened. Copper futures declined 1.3%, marking a two-month low, while aluminium futures slipped 0.8%.
Gold futures slipped by US$19.80, or 0.8%, to US$2,586.50 an ounce, influenced by a stronger US dollar and elevated US bond yields. Spot gold was trading around US$2,576 an ounce at the US close.
Iron ore futures dipped US8 cents, or 0.1%, to US$102.88 a tonne. Investors balanced optimism around possible fiscal support for China’s property sector against concerns from weaker credit lending data in the top consumer market.
On the small cap front
The ASX Small Ordinaries fell 38.7 points or 1.23% yesterday, following the ASX200 down as it fell 0.83%.
You can read about the following and more throughout the day on our website.