Australian shares opened higher on Wednesday, buoyed by broad gains, after having fluctuated back and forth overnight in line with Wall Street.
The S&P/ ASX 200 index lifted 0.3 per cent, or 20.8 points, to 8251.8. The All Ordinaries Index also rose 0.3 per cent. Seven of the sharemarket’s 11 sectors were in the green, while technology stocks weighed on the index.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 closed marginally higher in a choppy trading session, as investors await the release of US December inflation data early on Thursday. US CPI data will provide more insight into the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting cycle.
On the ASX, real estate stocks reported the largest gains. Property and digital infrastructure developer GMG lifted 0.7 per cent, while residential developer Stockland rose 2.7 per cent.
The big banks all opened higher, extending Tuesday’s gains. Commonwealth Bank lifted 0.6 per cent and ANZ rose 0.6 per cent. Macquarie Bank gained 0.8 per cent after the company announced it would invest up to $8 billion to aid the construction of an artificial intelligence data centre in North Dakota.
In currencies, Bitcoin topped $US96,000 ($154,973) overnight to trade at $US96,377.
Stocks in focus
Eli Lilly & Co. tumbled 6.7 per cent after the company reported preliminary fourth-quarter revenue that missed analyst estimates on lower-than-expected sales of its weight-loss and diabetes shots.
Guzman y Gomez jumped 5.4 per cent after UBS upgraded the food retailer to a “neutral” rating.
Myer dipped 1 per cent. An independent expert contracted to review its proposed with a portfolio of clothing brands owned by Premier Investments has reiterated its support of the deal.
Comments