Australian shares are expected to open higher on Wednesday following small gains on Wall Street where artificial intelligence (AI) optimism continued to push major indexes to record levels despite ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The ASX 200 index is set to rise 0.4%, based on futures trading which priced the June contract 38 points above the prior settlement at 8,789 points ahead of the 10:00 am AEST (12:00 am GMT) market opening.
CommSec Equity Market Strategist James Gruber said mining stocks might benefit from stronger overnight commodity prices, particularly oil, copper and aluminium.
“I think you might see the miners rallying again, and lately they've been offsetting slumping bank shares, we'll have to see what happens on the financial sector front and whether that continues,” he said.
“So that’ll be a space to watch.”
In New York, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite reached new highs as investor demand for AI stocks overcame worries about tensions arising from U.S.-Iran peace talks.
The Dow added 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite added just 0.03% on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST).
The Australian market had ended a little down on Tuesday with the ASX 200 losing 0.1% to 8,724.4 points.
Stocks to watch on the ASX include Megaport (ASX: MP1), which announced a $827 million rights issue to fund artificial intelligence capital expenditure, and Superloop (ASX: SLC), which upgraded its earnings guidance.
In economic news, the March quarter gross domestic product data is scheduled for release at 11:30 am AEST, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia economists expecting no quarterly change for an annual rate of 2.1%, down from 2.6% in the previous three months.
In fixed interest markets, the Australian Government bond yield curve continued to steepen as two-year rates fell by 0.32% to 4.615% and 10-year rates gained by 0.08% to 4.926% at the time of writing.
