Australian shares set to lift after Wall Street gains
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to start higher after solid gains on Wall Street as investors weighed up Federal Reserve meeting minutes ahead of September inflation data and earnings reports.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index provisionally ended 1.03% higher, while the broader S&P 500 gained 0.70% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.60%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were up 33 points or 0.40% at 8,250 points at 7am AEDT on Thursday.
The context: US stocks held on to gains after the Fed's September meeting minutes showed a "substantial majority" of officials supported an outsized half-point rate cut.
However, there was broader agreement that the move would not commit the Fed to any particular pace of cuts in the future. Traders are now pricing in an 80% chance of a 25-basis-point reduction in borrowing costs and a 19% probability the Fed keeps rates on hold, according to CME's FedWatch.
The market is awaiting the consumer price index inflation report due later on Thursday and the third-quarter corporate earnings season, which kicks off with some of the biggest US banks reporting on Friday.
The source: Reuters
