Wall Street hit new record highs overnight and the Australian market is heading for a 20 point plus gain at the opening this morning after its holiday Monday surge yesterday.
Gold and oil fell though and the Aussie dollar nudged lower towards 78.20 US cents in early Asian trading which is being truncated this week by holidays in China, Hong Kong and several other countries.
The Dow closed up about 150 points, or 0.7%, at 22,557, the S&P 500 index rose 0.4% to end at 2,529, while the Nasdaq closed up 0.3% at 6,516.
Marketwatch though pointed out that the biggest advance, however, was in the small-cap-oriented Russell 2000 which was up about 1.1% on the day.
The market rose on optimism around President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul proposal and expectations that third-quarter results will be solid. That pushed stocks higher, despite the Las Vegas mass shooting, which cast a pall over the market.
The Dow in fact has its strongest day in a month.
In Australia the ASX 200 future s market was up 22 points at 7am after the index rose 48 points or 0.8% on Monday to end at 5,729. The All Ordinaries index climbed by a similar margin to end the session at 5,791 points.
The gains came amid light ASX trading as NSW, South Australia, Queensland and the ACT enjoyed public holidays. There were also holidays in regional markets including Hong Kong, China, India and South Korea.
China’s market closures this week will also damp trading in commodity markets and pressure prices, especially in iron ore and steel, the two key Chinese markets for Australian investors.
BHP was up 1.3% on Monday, while Rio Tinto climbed 2.2% and Fortescue Metals added nearly 2%. South32 hit a record high after it jumped 4.9%.
Gold producers will be less supported for a second today today after a $US12 an ounce slide in future prices (to around $US1,274 an ounce on Comex). Oil prices fell more than 2% in the US to just over$US50 a barrel.
Banks underpinned the yesterday’s gains, with CBA up 1.5%. Westpac, ANZ and NAB climbed by between 0.7 and 1.1%.
Beach Energy received an enthusiastic response as it returned to trade following a capital raising to fund an acquisition. The stock soared 10.3% on Monday.
