The Australian sharemarket looks set to move up by a per cent, or 77 points to 8,042 points today, according to futures early this morning.
And if you’re planning a road trip but were deterred by the cost of fuel, you’ll be heartened to hear that petrol is currently 10 cents per litre cheaper than the 12-month average.
The 'national average' of a litre of unleaded right now is 182.5c, much lower than it was six months ago.
Fresh wave of dip-buying in US
US sharemarkets rebounded on Monday as a fresh wave of dip buying lifted stocks following a sell-off sparked by US inflation data.
The three big indices posted solid gains, with the Dow Jones rising 484 points or 1.2%, the S&P 500 gaining 1.2% and the Nasdaq up 194 points or 1.2%.
Investors were seeking clues about the size of potential interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
Tech giants Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Nvidia led the rally, rising 2.6% and 3.5% respectively.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) unveiled its iPhone 16, with CEO Tim Cook highlighting the device’s artificial intelligence capabilities – the tech giant nevertheless ended the day flat.
The rebound was not limited to tech stocks. Retail, banking and industrial sectors also made significant gains as investors hoped that an interest rate cut would boost flagging consumer spending.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Costco (NASDAQ:COST) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose between 2.1% and 2.3%.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) advanced 3.4% after reaching a tentative deal with its largest union, covering more than 32,000 workers and avoiding a potential strike.
Meanwhile, Palantir surged 14.1% following its announcement that it would be included in the S&P 500 index on September 23.
Europe recovers after last week
In European markets, share prices also recovered after last week's declines, as investors looked ahead to an expected interest rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday.
Regional markets gained between 0.7% and 1% with French stocks leading the rise.
Travel and leisure stocks outperformed, gaining 2.1%, while banks rose 1.2%. The FTSEurofirst 300 index climbed 0.8% while the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 1.1%.
In economic data, US consumer inflation expectations for the year ahead remained unchanged at 3% for the third consecutive month.
Total consumer credit in July increased by US$25.5 billion, the highest growth since November 2022, surpassing forecasts of US$10.4 billion.
US government bond yields were mixed on Monday. The US 10-year Treasury yield fell by 1 basis point to 3.70% while the 2-year Treasury yield rose by 2 basis points to 3.67%, reflecting investor uncertainty about the magnitude of the Federal Reserve's expected rate cut.
Currencies and commodities
In the currency market, the greenback had mixed fortunes. The Euro fell from US$1.1071 to US$1.1035, while the Australian dollar eased to 66.46 US cents. But the Japanese yen strengthened, rising from 143.79 to 142.65 yen per US dollar before settling at 143.15 yen.
Global oil prices were up more than 1% on Monday after multi-month lows last week. Brent crude gained US$0.78 or 1.1% to US$71.84 a barrel, while the US Nymex crude price rose US$1.04, or 1.5%, to US$68.71 a barrel, as investors monitored a potential hurricane in Louisiana that could disrupt production in the US Gulf Coast.
Base metal prices were mixed, with copper futures jumping 1.7% on hopes for Chinese economic stimulus and declining inventory data, while aluminium futures dipped slightly by 0.02%.
Gold futures were up US$8.10 or 0.3% to US$2,532.70 an ounce on Monday as investors awaited the US inflation report.
Spot gold was close to US$2,505 an ounce at the US close, while iron ore futures lifted 15 US cents or 0.2% to US$91.76 a tonne on Monday, as hopes of fresh stimulus from China following a batch of tepid inflation data lifted market sentiment.
Market snapshot
- Australian dollar: Flat at 66.6 US cents.
- Dow Jones: +1.2% to 40,829 points.
- S&P 500: +1.2% to 5,471 points.
- Nasdaq: +1.2% to 16,884 points.
- FTSE 100: +0.4% to 8,270 points.
- EuroStoxx 50: +0.9% to 4,778 points.
- Spot gold: +0.3% to $US2,505/ounce.
- Brent crude: +1.2% to $US71.94/barrel.
- Iron ore: +0.7% to $US92.35/tonne.
- Bitcoin: -+4.3% to $US57,337.
Source: ABC