Australian shares up 1% after Wall Street gains
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More news: The Australian sharemarket has opened higher on the back of a positive finish on Wall Street on Friday, with investors looking for signs of easing tensions in the US-China trade dispute.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 76 points or 0.95% to 8,044.20 after the first half hour of trade, with a majority of its 11 sectoral indices trading higher.
The top miners were mixed. BHP and Fortescue Metals Group were trading 0.3% lower but Rio Tinto was in the green. Energy majors Woodside and Santos were up 1.2% and 2.4% respectively, while each of the Big Four banks rose had gained more than 1%.
The early momentum follows a steady trading session on Wall Street on Friday, led by tech-related gains amid signs that the world's two largest economies are dialling back their trade war tensions and as investors were focused on parsing forward guidance from a spate of corporate results.
Australian shares seen steady after Wall Street advance
The news: The Australian sharemarket is poised to open barely changed despite a positive close on Wall Street on Friday as investors look for signs of easing tensions in the US-China trade dispute.
The numbers: Updated at 7.25am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 2 points or 0.02% at 8,078 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.05%, S&P 500 up 0.74%, Nasdaq up 1.26%
- Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.09%, CAC 40 up 0.45%, DAX up 0.81%
- Spot gold: down 0.89% at USD3,319.72 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.48% to USD66.87/bbl, US WTI up 0.37% to USD63.02/bbl
- AUD: up 0.16% at 64.01 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 0.30% to USD94,418.92.
The context: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were bolstered on Friday by gains in the "magnificent seven" group of tech-related megacaps, but the Dow closed nearly flat amid signs that the world's two largest economies are dialing back their trade war tensions. Investors were also focused on parsing forward guidance from a spate of corporate results. In the local market, attention will turn to quarterly inflation data on Wednesday that could determine whether or not the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates next month.
What to watch: CommSec quarterly State of the States report.
