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Markets live: ASX to open higher, AI stock rally drives Nasdaq to record high, oil drops below $US100
The Australian share market is likely to start the day higher after Wall Street's AI stocks surged, pushing the tech-heavy Nasdaq index to a new record high.
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stocks → open → high
Oil prices fell to their lowest level since early September on investors' renewed hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough to end the US-Iran war.
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prices → fall → war
See how the trading day unfolds on our blog.
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day → see → blog
Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.
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blog → intend → advice
Choose what information you see below by using filters
Key Event
Intergenerational Report shows younger Australians face tough economic future
Like many developed countries, Australia has low and declining fertility rates.
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Australia → choose → rates
According to the projections in the latest Intergenerational Report, more Australians will die than be born in 2066.
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Australians → accord → 2066
As Treasurer Jim Chalmers pointed out in a speech yesterday at the Australian National University, many advanced economies have already surpassed that point, and most of the rest are expected to do so within the next few decades.
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most → point → decades
The population, however, will continue to grow as new arrivals make up for the downturn in Australian births, but at a more modest pace than in the past 20 years, as immigration has become a hot political issue.
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immigration → continue → years
Add to this volatile mix a new technology that looks set to revolutionise the workplace and perhaps even life as we now know it.
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we → add → it
Exactly what AI will deliver is anyone's guess.
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deliver → deliver → what
The more optimistic among us hope for higher living standards.
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optimistic → hope → standards
The government hopes it will help turn around Australia's chronic productivity growth problem, which has declined to zero.
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which → hop → zero
Nasdaq hits record high as AI optimism abounds and Treasury yields retreat
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite surged to a record-high close this morning, lifted by gains in Advanced Micro Devices and other AI heavyweights.
The Nasdaq notched its first record-high close since June 2, while the S&P 500 is almost back at the record close it reached on August 13.
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it → hit → August
Investors pointed to signs that suggest spending on AI is still expanding, despite recent safety warnings from leaders of AI giants a week ago that triggered a global tech sell-off.
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that → point → off
To give you an idea of how well US markets performed:
- The Nasdaq gained 2.3% to 27,122 points
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 52,045 points, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.5% to end the session at 7,765 points.
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S&P → give → points
- Chip stocks rallied with Intel surging 12.2%, Arm Holdings up 17%, and the PHLX semiconductor index jumping 4.3%.
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index → rally → ?
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose about 10% to reach a market capitalisation of $US1 trillion for the first time.
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Devices → rise → time
- Meta shares soared 11.4% after Wells Fargo hiked its price target on the social media platform following the recent launch of its Muse AI assistant.
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Fargo → soar → assistant
Interest rates and Iran war on investors' minds
Meanwhile, investors still remain wary of the interest-rate outlook after the US Federal Reserve last week raised rates for the first time in three years to fight inflation.
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Reserve → remain → inflation
Traders see a 50% chance of another hike next month, CME's FedWatch showed.
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FedWatch → see → hike
On a related note, the Treasury's 10-year bond yield — which determines the US government's long-term borrowing costs — fell below the psychologically important 5% level.
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which → determine → level
That was after the price of oil futures fell below $US100 a barrel, its lowest level since September 9.
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price → fall → September
While Washington and Tehran exchanged threats through the weekend, US President Donald Trump said he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to attend the UN General Assembly in New York this week.
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who → exchange → York
- with Reuters
Key Event
Oil price drops below $US100 on hopes of US-Iran diplomacy
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price → drop → diplomacy
The crude oil price has sunk to its lowest level in 12 days as investors hoped for diplomatic progress on the Iran war due to this week's United Nations meeting and eyed a partial recovery in shipments from Saudi Arabia.
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investors → sink → Arabia
Brent crude futures fell almost 4% to $USUS99.86 per barrel.
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futures → fall → barrel
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 5% to $US95.43 per barrel.
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futures → drop → barrel
Both benchmarks fell to their lowest since September 9.
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benchmarks → fall → September
On Sunday, Iran and the US exchanged new threats, although US President Donald Trump said he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to be in New York this week for the UN General Assembly.
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who → exchange → Assembly
Iran has conveyed its conditions to mediators for re-engaging in negotiations, Al Jazeera reported, citing Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei.
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Jazeera → convey → chief
Partial recovery in Saudi exports
Fighting in the Middle East continued as Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said they had attacked Riyadh as well as a Saudi Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, while pushing to cut off the Red Sea coast from remaining areas held by Saudi-backed forces.
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they → fight → forces
China has asked Iran to help rein in the Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the attacks, according to three Iranian sources familiar with the matter.
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China → ask → matter
The attacks by the Houthis on Aramco's East-West pipeline have prompted the firm to increase exports through the Strait of Hormuz this month and next after halting some shipments via Yanbu.
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attacks → prompt → Yanbu
Expectations of a partial recovery in shipments from Saudi Arabia further weighed on prices.
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Expectations → weigh → prices
- with Reuters
Key Event
ASX to open higher as global optimism returns
Welcome to the ABC's finance blog!
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optimism → open → blog
I'll be guiding you through the latest market action for the next few hours.
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I → guide → hours
It appears the Australian share market is on track to open slightly higher this morning.
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market → appear → track
ASX futures, which are a rough indicator of how the market may open, have risen by 0.3%.
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market → open → %
It will follow a strong lead from Wall Street as AI-related stocks surged, oil prices fell sharply and US Treasury bond yields slipped.
The Australian dollar has edged up slightly to 72.2 US cents.
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dollar → follow → cents
In the meantime, grab a coffee, tea (or whatever you drink) and I'll be back with more updates soon!
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I → grab → updates
The Aporia
