ASX set for bright start as Wall Street pushes higher iron ore jumps
Stocks are higher on Wall Street on Tuesday (US time), extending the market’s modest gains from a day earlier and keeping major indexes near record levels. The full approval a day earlier of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was continuing to provide support for the market.
In late trade, the S&P 500 is 0.3 per cent higher. The benchmark index was on pace to eclipse the all-time high it set early last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has added 0.2 per cent and the and Nasdaq has climbed by 0.5 per cent, adding to its gains after finishing at a record high on Monday.
Wall Street is on track for another day of gains.Credit:AP
The Australian sharemarket is poised to open higher, with futures at 5.11am AEST pointing to a rise of 29 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open.
A mix of retailers, travel companies, restaurant chains and homebuilders helped lift the market. Banks, industrial companies and energy stocks, which got a boost from another rise in oil prices, also rose. Those gains offset a slide in health care and technology stocks.
Small company stocks were faring better than the broader market. The Russell 2000 index of small company stocks was up 0.8 per cent.
Iron ore prices jumped with 62 per cent grade prices out of Qingdao rising 6.8 per cent to $US146.13 a tonne.
The price of US crude oil was 2.8 per cent higher, continuing to recover from a decline earlier in the month. Halliburton, Occidental Petroleum and Valero Energy rose 3 per cent or more.
Best Buy jumped 9.7 per cent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after reporting results that were better than analysts were expecting and raising its full-year forecast.
Travel companies were also broadly higher. Las Vegas Sands rose 7.2 per cent and Wynn Resorts gained 6.8 per cent. Airlines and cruise line operators also rose. American Airlines was up 3.6 per cent and Delta Air Lines added 3.3 per cent, while Norwegian Cruise Line climbed 4.6 per cent and Carnival rose 4.9 per cent.
Pfizer fell 3.2 per cent after rising sharply the day before following the Food & Drug Administration’s full approval of its COVID-19 vaccine. The approval has given cities and companies the legal backing to start requiring mandates. On Monday, New York City and the Department of Defence announced vaccine requirements.
Investors will be looking to the Federal Reserve as the Kansas City Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming starts later this week. It will likely provide Wall Street with more insight into what the Fed may do about inflation. The concern among investors is that the Fed will reduce its bond-buying program later this year to combat inflation.
Bond yields were slightly higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.28 per cent from 1.25 per cent the day before.
AP
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