ASX Futures are up 0.4% this morning ahead of the ABS release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) data today. The inflation figures come ahead of a key meeting of the Reserve Bank board in February.
There are doubts that the RBA will cut rates next month, given the strong jobs market, strong dollar and high government spending.
“While the conditions for a rate cut are now real, a cautious RBA may well hold off until more information on the domestic economy and the rapidly changing global context is available,” said Deloitte partner Stephen Smith.
Smith expects the cash rate to fall from the current 4.35% to 2.85% by the end of next year, despite uncertainty about its February decision.
US markets rise
In the US, markets rose overnight. The Dow Jones index rose by 137 points or 0.3%, the S&P 500 index gained 0.9% and the Nasdaq index added 392 points or 2%.
Artificial intelligence-linked and other technology shares bounced back from sharp losses the previous day as investors snapped up bargains.
Chip giant Nvidia rebounded 8.8%, clawing back some losses one day after the emergence of a cheaper, open-source artificial intelligence model from China - DeepSeek - caused the shares to post the biggest market value loss in stock market history.
Microsoft shares rose 2.9% after US President Donald Trump said the company was in talks to acquire the US arm of ByteDance’s TikTok.
Royal Caribbean Cruises gained 12% as the cruise operator forecast annual profit largely above expectations.
Boeing jumped 1.5% with its chief optimistic the company can return to a key production target for its 737 airliner this year.
European sharemarkets closed higher on Tuesday with retail stocks leading broader gains, up 2.2%, as selling pressures ebbed a day after the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek triggered a global market rout.
- The continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.3% to record highs.
- In London, the UK FTSE 100 index rose by 0.4%.
Currencies
Currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade.
- The Euro fell from US$1.0443 to US$1.0413 and was near US$1.0430 at the US close.
- The Aussie dollar dipped from US62.56 cents to US62.35 cents and was near US62.50 cents at the US close.
- The Japanese yen rose from 155.97 yen per US dollar to JPY155.04 and was near JPY155.55 at the US close.
Commodities
Global oil prices rose on Tuesday after the White House said major US crude supplier Canada and other countries will go into effect on Saturday. The Brent crude price lifted US41 cents or 0.5% to US$77.49 a barrel. The US Nymex crude price rose US60 cents or 0.8% to US$73.77 a barrel.
Base metal prices were mixed on Tuesday after US President Trump announced plans for import tariffs on copper, aluminium and steel.
- Copper futures gained 0.4%
- Aluminium futures slid 1.5%.
The gold futures price rose by US$29.10 or 1.1% to US$2,767.50 an ounce on Tuesday, as increasing uncertainties over US President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs kept investor interest in the safe-haven asset. Spot gold was trading near US$2,763 at the US close.
Iron ore futures dipped US4 cents or less than 0.1% to US$101.30 a tonne on Tuesday in light trading ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
What’s ahead?
In Australia, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is scheduled.
Chinese financial markets are closed for the Lunar New Year.
The Bank of Canada and US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) both hand down interest rate decisions.
US data on wholesale inventories and the advance goods trade balance are released.
What’s happening in small caps?
- Antipa Minerals Ltd has announced assay results from the third batch of 36 holes completed during 2024 Phase 2 drilling at its Minyari Dome Gold-Copper Project.
- Riversgold Ltd latest assay results from rock chip sampling at the Saint John antimony, gold, copper and silver project in New Brunswick, continue to confirm the high-grade tenor of mineralisation.
- Brightstar Resources Ltd has commenced its 2025 gold production program at its Laverton Hub, with ore haulage underway and a first gold pour scheduled for March 2025.
- Imugene Ltd has received $20 million from the issuance of senior, unsecured, zero-coupon convertible notes to CVI Investments — the first tranche of a $46 million capital raising announced in December.
- Terra Metals Ltd has entered an option to acquire a contiguous tenement package adjacent to its flagship Dante copper-gold-platinum group metal-titanium-vanadium project in Western Australia.