US stocks jumped overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rising to new all-time highs, as traders cheered the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday decision to lower interest rates by half a percentage point.
The 30-stock index advanced 522.09 points, or 1.26 per cent, ending at 42,025.19, marking its first close above the 42,000 threshold. The S&P 500 rose 1.7 per cent to close at 5,713.64, topping 5,700 for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite surged 2.51 per cent to end at 18,013.98.
Turning to US sectors, Real Estate, Utilities and Consumer Discretionary were the only sectors that finished in the red overnight, closing lower by 0.23 per cent, 0.57 per cent and 0.58 per cent respectively. Technology was the best performer, closing higher by 3.1 per cent.
Tech stocks rallied as the rate cut spurred investors to return to a risk-on mood. Nvidia and AMD shares jumped about 4 per cent and nearly 6 per cent, respectively. Micron Technology added 2.2 per cent. Other Big Tech stocks, such as Meta Platforms and Alphabet, advanced 3.9 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.
Stocks leveraged to lower rates, which spur economic growth, also surged overnight. Financial giant JPMorgan Chase rose 1.4 per cent, while industrial stock Caterpillar and Home Depot gained 5.1 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.
Weekly jobless claims dropped to 219,000 for the week ending 14 September, the lowest level since May 18, and below the estimated 229,000. This decline signals a moderate pace of layoffs, as reported by the Labor Department. The figure was 12,000 lower than the previous week’s upwardly revised level. Meanwhile, continuing claims, which are reported with a one-week lag, edged down to 1.829 million.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.4 per cent gain.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7.30am was buying 68.14 US cents.
Commodities
Gold added 0.62 per cent. Silver gained 2.40 per cent. Copper added 1.12 per cent. Oil gained 1.47 per cent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE added 0.91 per cent, Frankfurt gained 1.55 per cent, and Paris closed 2.29 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 2.13 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 2 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.69 per cent higher.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.61 per cent higher at 8192.
Ex-dividends
Blackwall Limited (ASX:BWF) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
Capitol Health (ASX:CAJ) is paying 0.3987 cents fully franked
Eureka Group Ltd (ASX:EGH) is paying 0.7 cents unfranked
Inghams Group (ASX:ING) is paying 8 cents fully franked
Vita Life Sciences (ASX:VLS) is paying 3.5 cents fully franked
Dividends payable
ASX Ltd (ASX:ASX)
Beacon Lighting Group Ltd (ASX:BLX)
BSP Financial Group Ltd (ASX:BFL)
ClearView Wealth Ltd (ASX:CVW)
Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV)
Eagers Automotive Ltd (ASX:APE)
Globe International Ltd (ASX:GLB)
GR Engineering Services Ltd (ASX:GNG)
Hansen Technologies Ltd (ASX:HSN)
Heartland Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:HGH)
IPH Ltd (ASX:IPH)
Jumbo Interactive Ltd (ASX:JIN)
Jupiter Mines Ltd (ASX:JMS)
Meridian Energy Ltd (ASX:MEZ)
Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX:PNI)
Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM)
PWR Holdings Ltd (ASX:PWH)
QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX:QBE)
Redox Ltd (ASX:RDX)
Resimac Group Ltd (ASX:RMC)
Schaffer Corp Ltd (ASX:SFC)
SDI Ltd (ASX:SDI)
Sky Network Television Ltd (ASX:SKT)
Summerset Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:SNZ)
Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX:TAH)
Veem Ltd (ASX:VEE)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap, Marketech.
