Share prices in Australia are tipped to open a little higher on Monday at the start of a week in which the profit reporting season hits its straps and official interest rates are forecast to be cut again.
A stronger finish on Wall Street also provided support for the market, which is set to lift by just 0.05% from the outset of trading at 10 am AEST (12 am GMT Sunday), according to futures pricing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
At the time of writing , the S&P/ASX 200 September share price index (SPI) contract was trading five points over the previous settlement at 8,768 points.
United States stocks closed higher on Friday (Saturday AEST) with the Nasdaq Composite index reaching a new closing peak as technology companies advanced, led by Apple, and amid expectations about possible U.S. rate cuts.
Cherry Lane Investments Partner Rick Meckler some investors expected the Federal Reserve to lower rates.
"The other side of the equation has really been the tariffs, and how the tariffs turn out remains uncertain," he was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
Although the ASX is likely to open higher on Monday, it may not be enough to compensate for losses on Friday when the ASX 200 closed 24.3 points lower or 0.3% lower at 8,807.1.
The Reserve Bank of Australia today begins a two-day meeting to determine the course of monetary policy with a 25-basis-point reduction in the official cash rate to 3.60% widely expected to be announced tomorrow.
Among the corporate results out today are CAR Group (ASX: CAR), Iress (ASX: IRE), JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH) and Temple & Webster (ASX: TPW).
Yields on Australian Government bonds rose with two-year rates gaining 0.24% to 3.365% and 10-year rates barely changed at 4.274%, which was a 0.02% increase.
