The Australian sharemarket surged at opening due to a weaker-than-expected US jobs report, suggesting potential interest rate cuts in the US. The S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed by 0.5%, with the real estate sector leading gains, but trading is anticipated to be subdued pending the Reserve Bank's interest rate decision tomorrow. Following the US Labor Department's report indicating lower-than-anticipated job growth and a stable jobless rate, US interest rate futures are now predicting two 25 basis point cuts from the Federal Reserve this year, up from the previous expectation of just one cut.
At 11:30am, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.54 per cent higher at 7,670.3.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 40 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is REITs, up 1.68 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Industrials, down 0.3 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is NEXTDC (ASX:NXT), trading 2.96 per cent higher at $17.02. It is followed by shares in Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC) and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN).
The worst-performing large cap is Spark New Zealand (ASX:SPK), trading 4.59 per cent lower at $4.055. It is followed by shares in Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) and Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2313.90 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.18 US cents.
