S&P 500 hits another record high ahead of US inflation data
All three of Wall Street’s main indices ended higher when Wednesday trade wrapped up in New York earlier this morning.
At the end of trade, the Nasdaq was up 0.6%, the Dow rose by 1%, while the S&P 500 ended 0.7% higher to close at a new record high.
So what was behind Wall Street’s positivity? Interest rates, of course!
Specifically, meeting minutes from the US Federal Reserve that showed a “substantial majority” of officials supported the 0.5 percentage point rate cut at its September meeting.
But it wasn’t the minutes alone that sent US stocks higher — investors are waiting with bated breath for September’s inflation data, which will be coming out overnight.
Inflation is expected to show signs of further cooling, with economists predicting the annual inflation rate to come in at 2.3% — down from the current 2.5% — which could pave the way for another rate cut by the Fed next month.
(Just don’t expect another supersized cut — 0.25 percentage points is the current consensus.)
Market snapshot
- ASX 200 futures: +0.4% to 8,250 points
- Australian dollar: steady at 67.18 US cents
- S&P 500: +0.7% to 5,792 points
- Nasdaq: +0.6% to 18,291 points
- FTSE: -0.7% to 8,243 points
- EuroStoxx: +0.7% to 520 points
- Spot gold: -0.5% to $US2,607/ounce
- Brent crude: -0.6% to $US76.70/barrel
- Iron ore: +0.8% to $US105.90/tonne
- Bitcoin: +0.4% at $US60,604
Prices current around 8:15am AEDT.
A positive start ahead for the ASX
Well hello and happy Thursday! It’s October 10 and I’m here to guide you through all of the business and financial markets news this morning.
Unlike the weather here in Brisbane this morning (🌧️😔), Australian shares are set to follow the Wall Street sunshine and open 0.4% higher when trade gets underway in a few hours.
There’s a bit to unpack from overnight — think interest rates, inflation, and a possible forced break up of Google in the US.
We’ll circle back to those shortly, but let’s start with big news that came after the ASX shut up shop yesterday.
That news was Rio Tinto announcing its all cash deal to buy Arcadium Lithium for a cool $US6.7 billion ($9.9 billion), which will see Rio become the third-largest miner of the metal in the world.
We’ll get an idea of what investors make of the deal when the ASX opens a little later this morning — but for now, make yourself a coffee (if you haven’t already), and let’s get this show on the road.
