A tech-fuelled rally on Wall Street overnight is likely to send the Australian sharemarket higher today, while the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is preparing to release the gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the March quarter at 11:30am AEST.
Analyst forecasts suggest Australia’s economy will expand in the range of 0.1% to 0.3% for the first three months of the year, which reflects subdued household spending and tighter financial conditions.
Wall Street climbs as tech leads
The US sharemarket was up yesterday, buoyed by strong gains in semiconductor stocks and retail optimism, while investors awaited progress in potential tariff negotiations between Washington and its trade partners.
Information technology shares led the charge, rising 1.5% on the S&P 500, as Nvidia climbed 2.8% and Broadcom hit a new record high, up 3.3%, after it began shipping its next-generation AI networking chip.
ON Semiconductor surged 11.4% following management's appearance at the Bank of America 2025 Global Technology Conference.
On the retail front, Dollar General jumped 15.9% after raising its annual sales outlook.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 214 points or 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite added 156 points or 0.8%.
Over in Europe, markets closed modestly higher as eurozone inflation eased to 1.9% in May, below forecasts. This added to expectations for a European Central Bank rate cut on Thursday.
Energy stocks rose 1.1% as oil prices gained, while the FTSEurofirst 300 and UK FTSE 100 each added 0.2%.
US economic data has been mixed – factory orders declined 3.7% in April, more than expected. That said, job openings rose by 191,000 to 7.39 million, which points to continued labour market resilience.
US Treasury yields were little changed. The 10-year yield dipped by 1 basis point to 4.46%, while the 2-year yield edged up to 3.96%.
Currencies and commodities
The US dollar firmed overnight. By contrast, the euro weakened to US$1.1375, while the Australian dollar rose to 64.65 US cents.
Oil rose to a two-week high, with Brent crude up 1.5% to US$65.63 a barrel. Base metals and iron ore declined on soft Chinese data, and gold fell 0.6% to US$3,377.10 an ounce.
On the horizon, markets await Australia’s National Accounts and US employment data. The Bank of Canada is also expected to announce its latest policy decision.
Market snapshot
- ASX 200 futures: +0.3% to 8,507 points
- Australian dollar: +0.1% at 64.64 US cents
- S&P 500: +0.6% to 5,970 points
- Nasdaq: +0.8% to 19,398 points
- FTSE: +0.2% to 8,787 points
- EuroStoxx: +0.2% to 566 points
- Spot gold: Flat at $US3,352/ounce
- Brent crude: +1.5% to $US65.62/barrel
- Iron ore: -0.9% to $US94.40 a tonne
- Bitcoin: -0.2% to $US105,594
Source: the ABC