ASX to rise as US and Europe indices extend gains
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is poised to open higher this morning, tracking gains by US and European indices overnight, despite the release of weak economic data in the US.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 53 points, or 0.67%, to 7,909 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.85%, S&P 500 up 0.86%, Nasdaq up 0.31%
- Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.56%, CAC 40 up 0.57%, DAX up 0.73%
- Spot gold: up 0.57% to USD3,001.07 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.11% to USD70.99/bbl, US WTI up 0.46% USD67.49/bbl
- AUD: up 1% to 63.87 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 1.27% to USD84,273.19.
The context: US stocks rallied overnight despite softer-than-expected retail sales data for February, reflecting concerns over the government's aggressive trade tariffs and widespread cuts to the federal workforce.
Separate reports showed that monthly factory activity in New York State lowered by the most in nearly two years, and that national homebuilder sentiment dropped to a seven-month low in March, Reuters reported.
What to watch: The US Federal Reserve is due to meet today, though widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged. Fed officials will also announce economic projections alongside their policy statement, possibly offering insights into how the central bank views the impact of recent Trump administration policies.
The source: Reuters
