The Australian share market is set to open higher, after large-cap tech stocks on Wall Street rebounded from the biggest two-day slide since December.
It comes as investors prepare themselves for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, as it kicks off its two-day meeting today.
Economists agree the Fed is likely to lift rates by 0.25 per cent.
The S&P 500 posted a record close gaining about 0.5 percent, with IT and materials leading the charge.
The Nasdaq composite rose 0.7 per cent, with shares in Apple, Alphabet and Tesla climbing.
The Dow Jones rose about 90 points to hit an intraday and closing record, as 3M & Goldman Sachs offered the most gains.
US economic newsThe National Federation of Independent Business (NFIIB) announced that its small business optimism index remained unchanged at 104.5 for May.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported its producer Price Index also remained unchanged at 112.7 for May, matching expectations. It comes following a 0.5 per cent rise in final demand prices for April, which also met expectations.
Local economic newsWestpac Bank & Melbourne Institute will release its Consumer Confidence statistics for June, which will include an additional quarterly question on where consumers believe is the wisest place to put new savings.
Markets Wall Street closed higher yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 0.4 per cent to close at 21,328, the S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent to close at 2,440 and the NASDAQ rose 0.7 per cent to close at 6,220.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE fell 0.2 per cent, Paris rose 0.4 per cent and Frankfurt gained 0.6 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.6 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.4 per cent.
And back home, the Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 95 points up to finish at 5,773. On the futures market, the SPI is 6 points up.
Company news88 Energy Limited
(ASX:88E) has received approval of a sundry application to begin the main stimulation work at its oil-rich Icewine#2 [of Project Icewine], based in Alaska. The exploration company says two zones were chosen for the work, based on where hydrocarbon concentration is highest. 88 Energy says production testing remains on schedule for late June or early July. Shares in 88 Energy Limited
(ASX:88E) closed 17.24 per cent higher to 6.8 cents.
Ex-dividendsOne company is going ex-dividend today:
Iron Mountain
(ASX:INM) is paying 51.68 cents un franked
Currencies The Australian Dollar at 7.30AM was buying 75.38 US cents, 59.11 Pence Stirling, 82.96 Yen and 67.25 Euro cents.
CommoditiesGold has lost 40 cents to $US1,269 an ounce.
Silver has lost 13 cents to $US16.82 an ounce.
Oil has slid 16 cents to $US46.16 a barrel.
