Note: Figures recorded at 7:45am AEDT. The closing figures and video recording will be available at 9:00am AEDT.
Stocks have jumped Monday to start a holiday shortened week, boosted by strong tech gains led by Microsoft and Nvidia.
Tthe Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 270 points, or 0.8%. The S&P 500 has added 0.9%, while the Nasdaq Composite has climbed 1.2%.
Microsoft shares are up 2.4%, reaching a new 52-week high, after CEO Satya Nadella said former OpenAI chief Sam Altman will be joining the tech giant to lead a new AI research team.
Chipmaker Nvidia has also added about 2.3%, marking a new all-time high for the stock ahead of its earnings report Tuesday afternoon.
The tech and communication services were the biggest gainers in the S&P 500, up 1.6% and 1%, respectively. Palo Alto Networks jumped 5.3%, while Intel climbed 2.4%. Meanwhile, Paramount rose 7.3%, followed by Netflix, which gained 2.2%.
U.S. markets will be closed Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Friday will also be a shortened trading day. Trading around the Thanksgiving holiday has been choppy in recent years, but November is still the best-performing month for the S&P 500, according to the Stock Traders’ Almanac.
Market bulls remain enthusiastic into year-end, particularly after cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data released last week calmed investors’ nerves about stubbornly high prices and provided a hopeful indication that the Federal Reserve could stop raising interest rates. Yields also continued their fall on Monday following a strong auction on 20-year Treasury notes.
Wall Street will also keep an eye on the latest Fed minutes, which are scheduled to be released Tuesday.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7:45 AM was buying 65.63 US cents.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 0.11 per cent, Frankfurt also fell 0.11 per cent, and Paris closed 0.18 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.59 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.86 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.46 per cent higher.
The Australian share market closed 0.13 per cent higher at 7058
Ex-dividends
Amcor PLC (ASX:AMC) is paying 19.73 cents unfranked
Elders (ASX:ELD) is paying 23 cents 30 per cent franked
Kelly Partners Group (ASX:KPG) is paying 0.44 cents fully franked
Dividends payable
Adacel Technologies (ASX:ADA)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
