ASX to rise as US tech climbs higher

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher after a rally in tech names on Wall Street overnight.

The numbers: Updated at 8:35am AEDT

• ASX futures: up 5 points or 0.47% at 8,203 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.16%, S&P 500 up 0.73%, Nasdaq up 0.98%
• Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.22%, CAC 40 down 0.03%, DAX down 0.18%
• Spot gold: down 0.36% to USD2,613.40 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent up 0.07% to USD72.99/barrel, US WTI up 0.13% to USD69.55/bbl
• AUD: down 0.03% at 62.49 US cents
• Bitcoin: down 1.21% to USD93,958.63

The context: US tech giants bucked a weak session overnight on Wall Street. As most sectors declined the Magnificent Seven led tech indices higher. Among the best performers were Nvidia, which rose 3.69%, and Tesla, which ended 2.27% higher. Thin trading breadth is expected to result in a mixed session on the ASX today. The local market will close at 2:10pm for Christmas Eve.

What to Watch: The minutes from the RBA's December meeting will be released at 11:30am this morning, providing greater clarity and insight into the central bank's thinking about interest rates going into 2025.