Australian shares are poised to open higher on Wednesday after a broad rally on Wall Street, where a rebound in semiconductor stocks offset concerns over renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran that pushed oil prices to their highest level since early June.
ASX 200 futures rose 21 points, or 0.2%, to 8,763, pointing to a firmer open.
U.S. markets were led higher overnight by chipmakers, with investors returning to the sector following last week's sharp pullback.
Sandisk surged 14.3%, Micron Technology gained 12.2%, Western Digital jumped 12.5%, while Seagate Technology advanced 11.1%.
"Investors are really buying back in to the semis ahead of earnings because they have fear of missing out (FOMO), that these companies could report outsized earnings beats and increase their outlooks and they don't own as much as they did before the most recent pullback," said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at 248 Ventures in Charlotte, North Carolina, was quoted as saying in a Reuters story.
Bell warned, however, that the recent rally has lifted expectations ahead of earnings season.
"The numbers are going to be really good, but the stocks are also priced for perfection," she added.
The Australian sharemarket finished little changed on Tuesday as investors rotated back into technology stocks and gold miners while weakness in the banking and healthcare sectors limited broader gains.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index edged up 2.0 points to 8,793.3, with five of the 11 sectors closing higher.
On the bond markets, Australia's 10-year government bond yield rose 0.1% to 4.982%, while the two-year yield slipped 0.5% to 4.584%.
