ASX opens higher as healthcare and tech stocks pace gains
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More news: Australian shares lifted at the open as healthcare and technology stocks led early gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 52.6 points, or 0.60%, to 8,797.8 at 10:30am AEST. Nine of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
Healthcare stocks rose 2.2% as biotech Telix Pharmaceuticals (+8.7%) and medical imaging company Pro Medicus (+6.3%) both surged. Tech stocks added 2% as Life360 (+3.7%), Xero (+3.4%), TechnologyOne (+3%) and WiseTech Global (+2.9%) rallied.
Miners (-0.1%) were the worst performers, with gold producers Bellevue Gold (-2.2%) and Westgold Resources (-1.4%) the two worst performers on the ASX 200.
Australian shares to climb as Wall Street hits rare four-index record high
The news: Australian shares are set to open higher after Wall Street's main indices sealed record-high closes overnight, a day after the US Federal Reserve delivered an expected quarter-point interest rate cut.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 48 points, or 0.54%, to 8,820
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.27%, S&P 500 up 0.48% and Nasdaq up 0.94%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.87%, DAX up 1.35% and FTSE 100 up 0.21%
- Spot gold: down 0.43% to USD3,644 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.12% at USD67.52/bbl and US WTI down 0.64% to USD63.64/bbl
- AUD: down 0.61% to 66.12 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 0.80% to USD117,402.
The context: The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones and Russell 2000 all hit record highs overnight, the first time since November 2021 that all four major benchmarks closed together at fresh peaks. It’s a rare feat, seen only 26 times this century, according to Bloomberg data.
The Fed's latest rate cut is expected to add to Wall Street's recent bull run, boosted by monetary policy easing hopes and a revival of AI-linked stock trading.
Tech giant Intel saw its biggest daily jump since 1987, surging 22.8% after chip maker Nvidia said it would invest USD5 billion ($7.6 billion) in the company. Nvidia also lifted 3.5% following the news.
