Proactive’s Tylah Tully gives a morning market update.
Australian shares were anticipated to open slightly higher today, following mixed performances on Wall Street and strong gains in European markets.
At the time of filming, the market had plateaued, sitting 0.06% lower.
Wall Street saw muted performance on Thursday as investors analysed new economic data and corporate earnings. The Dow Jones dropped 68 points (-0.2%), the S&P 500 declined 0.2%, and the Nasdaq fell 173 points (-0.9%).
In Europe, markets rallied strongly, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index up 1.0% and the UK FTSE 100 gaining 1.1%. Luxury stocks led the gains, highlighted by Richemont (+16.4%), LVMH (+9.2%), and Dior (+8.6%).
In commodities, gold futures rose by US$33.10 to US$2,750.90 an ounce, with spot gold near US$2,714 an ounce. Iron ore futures traded around US$100 a tonne. Base metals saw gains, with copper rising 1.2% to a five-week high and aluminium up 1.8%. Oil prices eased amid reduced Red Sea tensions.
On currencies, the Australian dollar strengthened to US$0.621, while the Euro rose to US$1.03 by the close.