Australian shares to start higher, tracking Wall Street gains
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to start on a firm note, tracking modest gains on Wall Street where investors continue to focus on the timing of rate cuts and Nvidia’s results.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index ended 0.17% higher, the broader S&P 500 gained 0.25% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.22% to finish at another record high. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were up 21 points or 0.27% at 7,899 points at 7:00am AEST on Wednesday.
The context: US stocks recorded slight gains a day ahead of quarterly earnings from chipmaker Nvidia, Wall Street's third-largest firm by market capitalisation, in what is seen as a test of whether the outsized rally in AI-related stocks can be sustained.
Investors also looked toward minutes from the US Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting, due on Wednesday, after multiple Fed officials on Tuesday reinforced the stance that it would be best for the central bank to exercise patience before starting to cut interest rates. Markets are currently pricing in a 64.8% chance for a cut of at least 25 basis points at the Fed's September meeting.
What they said: "Investors are sort of just sitting on their hands for today because there are two important things that will be coming out tomorrow, Fed minutes combined with Nvidia earnings, so I don't think people want to make any big bets ahead of that," Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of CFRA Research in New York told Reuters.
The source: Reuters
