US stocks rallied overnight as investors continued to shrug off a rocky start to September and snapped up tech stocks in anticipation of a Federal Reserve rate cut next week.
The S&P 500 gained 0.75 per cent to close at 5,595.76, marking its fourth consecutive winning day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 235.06 points, or 0.58 per cent, to end at 41,096.77. The Nasdaq Composite added 1 per cent, closing at 17,569.68. The S&P 500 has narrowed its September losses to just 0.9 per cent and is now within 1.3 per cent of a new record high.
Turning to US sectors, all sectors closed higher overnight. Communications was the best performing sector overnight, followed by Consumer Discretionary. Real Estate recorded the fewest gains, just finishing in the green by closing 0.1 per cent higher.
Shares of megacap tech and semiconductor companies continued to surge overnight, bolstering the market during the afternoon. Artificial intelligence powerhouse Nvidia jumped 1.9 per cent, while Alphabet and Facebook parent Meta Platforms each gained more than 2 per cent.
Moderna shares plunged 12.4 per cent after announcing cost-cutting plans and reduced R&D spending. Despite this, the company expects 10 new product approvals by 2027.
Kroger shares rose over 7 per cent after reporting mixed second-quarter results. While adjusted earnings exceeded expectations, revenue fell short of Wall Street's estimates.
Petco shares continued their upward momentum, gaining 11.3 per cent following a 33 per cent surge on Wednesday.
Inflation data released this week provided the final clues before the Federal Reserve's Sept. 17-18 meeting, where central bankers are widely expected to announce a quarter percentage-point interest rate cut.
Thursday's producer price index (PPI), which measures the average change in prices businesses receive for their goods and services, showed a 0.2 per cent rise in wholesale prices in August. This was in line with expectations. The PPI report follows consumer inflation data released Wednesday that indicated an uptick in core prices but also a decline in overall inflation to its lowest level since February 2021.
Weekly jobless claims data released Thursday also showed a slight increase in the number of individuals filing for unemployment benefits, rising to 230,000 for the week ending Sept. 7.
Investors are coming off a volatile trading session that was initially weighed down by the consumer price index report but rebounded late in the day as tech shares surged.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7.30am was buying 67.23 US cents.
Commodities
Gold added 1.50 per cent. Silver gained 4.08 per cent. Copper added 1.29 per cent. Oil gained 2.47 per cent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE added 0.57 per cent, Frankfurt gained 1.03 per cent, and Paris closed 0.52 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei jumped 3.41 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.77 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.17 per cent lower.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 1.1 per cent higher at 8076.
Ex-dividends
Ariadne Australia (ASX:ARA) is paying 0.5 cents fully franked
CAR Group Limited (ASX:CAR) is paying 38.5 cents 50 per cent franked
Cleanaway Waste Ltd (ASX:CWY) is paying 2.55 cents fully franked
Data#3 Limited (ASX:DTL) is paying 12.9 cents fully franked
Downer EDI Limited (ASX:DOW) is paying 11 cents 50 per cent franked
F.F.I. Holdings (ASX:FFI) is paying 12.5 cents fully franked
Grange Resources (ASX:GRR) is paying 0.5 cents fully franked
Kelsian Group Ltd (ASX:KLS) is paying 9.5 cents fully franked
Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX:LOV) is paying 37 cents unfranked
Perpetual Equity Ltd (ASX:PIC) is paying 4 cents fully franked
Plato Inc Max Ltd (ASX:PL8) is paying 0.55 cents fully franked
Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) is paying 5 cents fully franked
SKS Tech Group Ltd (ASX:SKS) is paying 1 cent fully franked
Dividends payable
Acumentis Group Ltd (ASX:ACU)
REA Group Ltd (ASX:REA)
Step One Clothing Ltd (ASX:STP)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap, Marketech.
