Record highs in New York have given the Australian sharemarket the impetus to set to start a new week by extending capital gains.
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is expected to open about 0.3% higher on Monday, with the S&P/ASX 200 share price index December contract trading 24 points above the prior settlement at 8,852 points, at the time of writing.
The main United States stock indices finished at record highs on Friday (Saturday AEST) on the back of positive sentiment generated by an interest rate cut on Thursday and news Nvidia was buying a stake in rival Intel.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.7%, a day after the Fed Reserve lowered its funds rate by 25 basis points and foreshadowed a further easing of monetary policy.
"Markets have done exceptionally well and now markets are looking for the next driver or the next bit of news," Miller & Washington Chief Executive Michael Farr was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
The Australian market had gained ground on Friday with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.3% to 8,773.5.
Market participants will be monitoring Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock’s appearance before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics while New Hope Corp (ASX: NHC) shares trade ex-dividend.
In fixed interest markets, yields on Australian Government bonds continued to rise with two-year rates putting on 0.03% to 3.383% and 10-year rates adding 0.09% to 4.258%.
