The Australian share market is set to test historic highs on Wednesday after expectations of a positive outcome from trade discussions lifted United States stocks overnight.
The S&P/ASX 200 June share price index contract was quoted 24 points (+0.27%) higher than the previous settlement at 8,620 at the time of writing.
U.S. indices ended higher on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), helped by an increase in Tesla share price as investors were hopeful about U.S.-China tariff talks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each jumped 0.6%.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said London talks were progressing well. He hoped they would end Tuesday night, but they might continue on Wednesday.
The U.S. stock market has rebounded strongly since March from the sell-off triggered by President Donald Trump's ‘Liberation Day’ global tariff announcements.
"The expectation is that they'll figure this out, and that the Liberation Day tariff levels are never going to be seen. You can't get to market valuations where we've got them and have those tariff levels get anywhere close to reality," Horizon Investments Chief Investment Officer Scott Ladner was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
The Australian sharemarket closed at a record high on Tuesday as improving sentiment about trade walks helped push the S&P/ASX 200 Index up 0.8% to 8,587.2, which beat its previous high of 8,555.8 set on 14 February.
In corporate news, shares of Infratil (ASX: IFT) trade ex-dividend, while Light & Wonder (ASX: LNW) and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX: URW) are expected to hold annual general meetings today.
In the fixed interest market, Australian Government bond yields rose with 10-year rates adding 0.33% to 4.286% and two-year rates adding 0.15% to 3.360%.
