Australian stocks set to lift after gains on Wall St

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher, in line with a strong finish on Wall Street as investor concerns on rates eased and Nvidia led tech stocks higher.

The numbers: The Dow Jones index closed 0.54% higher, while the broader S&P 500 gained 1.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.59% thanks to gains for software maker Nvidia’s shares. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were trading 36 points or 0.51% higher at 7,128 points at 7:00am AEST on Thursday.

The context: The overnight gains came after data showed US business activity grew at its weakest since February, and Eurozone data was similarly weak, easing concerns that the US Fed could hike rates further. Sentiment was also boosted by Nvidia, which reported better-than-expected results after close, leading other tech stocks higher. In the local market, investors will be watching for a slew of earnings from Qantas, Ansell, Lovisa, Nine, Star and South 32, among others.