Australian shares rally in early trading after Wall St rebound
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More news: The Australian sharemarket has rallied in early trading, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street and higher US futures amid hopes of a trade deal between the US and China.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 138 points or 1.77% to 7,954.90 after the first 20 minutes of trade. Aall 11 sectoral indices were trading higher, with energy, technology and healthcare leading the charge. Top miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group were all trading around 2% higher, while energy majors Woodside and Santos climbed 2.5% and 3.7% respectively, tracking a rise in oil prices. Three of the Big Four banks were up more than 2%.
Local investors took the cue from overnight gains on Wall Street after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the tariff standoff with China is “unsustainable” and he expects the situation to de-escalate. Those remarks were later backed by Trump, who said tariffs would fall significantly when a deal is struck with China. Markets were also relieved after Trump stated he has no plans to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell but wants interest rates to be lower.
Australian shares set to track Wall Street higher
The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher, tracking sharp gains on Wall Street amid hopes that US-China trade tensions could ease soon.
The numbers: Updated at 7.25am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 100 points or 1.28% at 7,936 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 2.66%, S&P 500 up 2.51%, Nasdaq up 2.71%
- Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.64%, CAC 40 up 0.56%, DAX up 0.41%
- Spot gold: up 0.01% at USD3,380.94 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 1.71% to USD67.39/bbl, US WTI up 1.95% to USD64.31/bbl
- AUD: up 0.13% at 63.74 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 4.66% to USD91,618.39.
The context: All three major US indices rebounded sharply from a slide in the previous session after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door investor event in Washington that the tariff standoff with China is “unsustainable” and that he expects the situation to de-escalate. That helped fuel a broad rally as investors looked past US President Donald Trump's ramped-up rhetoric against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. All 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 advanced, with financials and consumer discretionary enjoying the largest gains.
What to watch: S&P Global Purchasing managers’ indices for Japan, followed by Europe and the US.
