Wall Street soared on the final day of trading as prospects for the US Senate passing the huge Trump tax bill improved.
The rise will see our market opening around 20 points higher, despite yesterday’s 41 point slide (0.7%) off the back of the Federal Government’s backflip on a Bank Royal Commission.
Traders ignored deficit fears and noise from the US Congress from conservatives trying to sneak in cuts to Obamacare, which could see some Senate Republicans think again.
Major Wall Street equity indexes hit records led by the Dow which roared through the 24,000 point mark for the first time.
It was the Dow’s longest streak of monthly gains in more than 20 years.
Meanwhile, major tech stocks, which took a battering in Wednesday session, showed signs of rebounding from that selloff overnight and the Nasdaq rose.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 331 points, or 1.4%, to 24,272, its biggest one-day percentage increase since September, as well as its fifth straight daily rise.
The S&P 500 index was up 21.5 points to 2,651, a gain of 0.8%. Both were at records.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 49.5 points, or 0.7%, to 6,873. The tech-heavy index, which fell on Wednesday, was about 0.5% below its own record
For November the Dow industrials are looking at a gain of around 3.7%. That would be the eighth-straight monthly win, the longest such streak since July 1995 according to FactSet.
The S&P 500 was up around 2.8%. It also looks set to nail an eight-month winning streak, the longest such run since January 2007.
The Nasdaq rose by around 2.2%. That would be its fifth month of rises in a row and the longest such winning streak since May 2017.
The year itself has been a blockbuster for stocks, with the three major indexes gaining between 17% and 27% for the year,
The ASX 200 index dropped 41 points, or 0.7%, to 5969, while the All Ordinaries fell 38 points, or 0.6%, to 6057.
The Australian dollar climbed 0.3% to 75.9 US cents in Australia but slid to around 75.60 in overnight trading – down for the month.
For the month, the ASX200 measure gained 60 points or 1%, as IT, real estate and energy firms all performed well, while telcos and financials dragged. CBA shares rose 2.2% and helped the index to end higher offsetting falls from the NAB (down 9.9%), ANZ, down 5.1% and Westpac, down 4.6%.
Telstra shares fell 3%, while BHP shares were up 2.8% and Rio shares rose 0.7%. Woolies shares rose 2.6%.
