ASX opens higher, Flight Centre leads early gains
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More news: Australian shares opened higher as materials and gold mining stocks led early gains. The benchmark ASX 200 index was up 57.2 points, or 0.67% to 8,636.6 at 10:34am AEDT. Nine of the 10 sectors opened in positive territory.
Materials (+1.69%) was the top performing sector, with mining making up six of the top 10 performing ASX 200 stocks, continuing previous day rally.
Flight Centre (+8.23%) rallied after upgrading its outlook on the Iglu takeover. James Hardie (+6.74%), Ramelius Resources (+5.88%) and Sims Limited (+3.95%) were the next best performers.
Healthcare (-0.43%) was the worst performing sector led by losses from Resmed (-2.99%) and Sigma Healthcare (-1.06%).
Premier Investment (-4.58%) was the worst performing ASX 200 stock after recent disappointment in the AGM trading update.
Australian shares to rise as Fed rate cut buoys Wall Street
The news: Australian shares are set to lift at the open as US stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected interest rate cut, despite three dissenting votes.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 73 points, or 0.85%, to 8,655
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 1.26%, S&P 500 up 0.74% and Nasdaq up 0.52%.
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.37%, DAX down 0.13% and FTSE 100 up 0.14%
- Spot gold: up 0.65% to USD4,235 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 1.10% to USD62.61/bbl and US WTI up 1.17% to USD58.93/bbl
- AUD: up 0.60% at 66.82 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 1.17% to USD93,775.
The context: Wall Street's three main indices were all in positive territory towards the end of the session. After muted trading at the start of trading, stocks were boosted after the Fed announced a quarter-percentage-point rate cut and signalled that it will likely pause further reductions in borrowing costs.
The decision marked the Fed's third consecutive cut, with nine out of 12 voters supporting the call. The announcement met Wall Street expectations for a "hawkish cut", as the central bank retained its outlook for a single cut in 2026.
Elsewhere, Oracle, Adobe and Synopsys are all due to release earnings reports after the market closes at 8am AEDT, while in the local market Westpac and Myer will host their annual general meetings this morning.
