ASX to start higher as Fed comments spark Wall Street rally
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to rise after Wall Street rallied on comments made by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell who reaffirmed expectations that the central bank would cut interest rates this year.
The numbers: The Dow Jones rose 0.2%, the broader S&P 500 gained 0.51%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lifted 0.58% by market close.
In the local market, ASX 200 futures were up 36 points or 0.46% higher at 7,749 points at 8:00am AEDT on Thursday.
The context: Wall Street's three major indices rose over night as Powell confirmed the US is on track to cut rates later this year. In the first day of his two-day congressional testimony, the Fed chair said inflation had "eased substantially" but that "greater confidence" in its decline towards the central bank's 2% goal was needed before rate cuts.
New data also showed that US private payrolls increased slightly less than expected in February as job openings fell marginally in January while hiring declined.
Elsewhere, China is set to release its trade data for January and February at 2pm AEDT, having announced its 5% growth target for 2024 earlier in the week.
In the local market, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will publish a range of data releases at 11:30am AEDT, including trade balance and housing finance numbers for January.
The source: Reuters
