Wall Street is on a hat trick, closing higher for the third day in a row.
The Dow gained 337 points or 1.1%, the S&P 500 closed up 1.6% and the Nasdaq added 246.5 points or 2.3%.
The ASX is set to follow, undaunted by the Federal Budget or by impending inflation data, due today.
ASX futures pointed to a near 1% jump in trade this morning.
Major currencies were stronger against the US dollar overnight, with the Euro buying US$0.9965 at the US close, the yen up to JPY147.50 to the dollar and the Aussie dollar rising from near 63.05 US cents to highs near 64.10 US cents, closing out at 63.95 US cents.
Budget reveals energy shock
Last night’s Federal Budget unveiled one big shock for consumers and businesses – energy costs are expected to continue to soar, more than doubling by the middle of next year.
The figures revealed that electricity will increase by roughly 20% by Christmas, and a further 30% in the next financial year. That’s 56% over 18 months. Gas prices are tipped to increase 44% over the same period.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government would be keeping tabs on the industry and would not rule out market intervention to ease household pain.
"Any responsible government facing these kinds of price hikes for electricity and gas needs to consider a broader sweep of regulatory interventions than they might have considered in years gone by," he said.
Reactions to the Budget
The Budget, which acknowledged an uphill battle to control debt and inflation over the coming year, garnered – as expected – support from some quarters and criticism from others, as industry and consumer groups began to react this morning.
Among other things, Chalmers’ budget built in $350 million over five years towards an aspirational target of building one million affordable dwellings to ease the housing crisis.
It also flagged the need to “cut waste” from the NDIS, which it noted is growing at around 14% a year. This prompted disability advocates to note that the same concerns aren’t raised about Medicare.
The focus on families and women’s participation in the workforce was widely praised.
Chris Vein, CEO of ACS, the professional association for Australia’s technology sector, said: “While we would have liked to have seen more tech-focused measures announced, we have long been advocates of boosting the technology sector’s diversity. Enabling parents to enter, or get back into the workforce is an important step in allowing this.”
“The government’s previously announced measures around TAFE places, support for advanced manufacturing, boosted NBN spending and revamped industry programs are all very welcome by everyone in the sector.
“Ahead of the election earlier this year we proposed nine measures to grow Australia’s IT sector and we are pleased the Albanese government has acted on many of our ideas.”
Adidas dumps West
Sportswear company Adidas has bowed to growing outrage about its partnership with anti-Semitic spokesperson Kanye West, now legally known as Ye, and severed ties with the rapper.
The German company admitted that the decision would impact its bottom line, but said in a statement: "Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism and any other sort of hate speech."
"Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness."
The move will also have an effect on West’s bottom line – Forbes no longer ranks him as a billionaire since the ditching.
In other ‘celebrity’ news, Elon Musk looks set to comply with a court ruling that he purchase Twitter by Friday.
The Tesla CEO’s equity investors and banks have received the paperwork and it all looks set to go ahead.
In other news
Global oil prices continued to climb yesterday, adding around 1%. Brent crude rose by 26 US cents or 0.3% to US$93.52 a barrel, while US Nymex crude gained 74 US cents or 0.9% to US$85.32 a barrel.
A softer US dollar made linked energy cheaper, but ultimately contributed to price rises, as did supply concerns coming out of Saudi Arabia.
Some downward pressure came from weaker economic data in Europe and the US.
Base metals were mixed, with zinc, lead and copper falling by as much as 2.2%, with zinc leading the charge, while other metals rose by up to 2.6%, with aluminium up the most.
Gold futures rose by US$3.90 an ounce or 0.2% to US$1,658.00 an ounce and spot gold was trading around US$1,657 an ounce yesterday.
Iron ore futures rose by 10 US cents or 0.1% to US$94.61 a tonne.