The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is set to mark April Fool’s Day by opening higher, fixing a smile to the faces of investors who know the poor returns this year are no laughing matter.
Putting behind it the lowest monthly and quarterly returns in some time, the benchmark ASX index is forecast to rise almost 1% when trading resumes at 10 am AEDT (11 pm GMT Monday).
That is the inference to be drawn from the S&P/ASX 200 June share price contract which at 9 am AEDT was trading up 67 points (0.85%) from the previous settlement at 7,944.
The scene for higher prices on the ASX was set in New York on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) with two of the three major benchmarks closing higher as prices rebounded from an earlier sell-off.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indices finished up 1% and 0.6% respectively while the Nasdaq Composite ended down 0.1%.
A stronger opening by the ASX 200 would help to recoup losses from Monday when the marker fell 1.7% to 7,843.4.
“It’s a very mixed and uncertain market at the moment,” said Chief CommSec Economist Ryan Felsman.
He said the S&P 500 index had been down about 2% due to continuing concerns about tariffs before turning around amid month-end and quarter-end portfolio re-balancing.
Felsman noted the U.S. market was supported by sectors including consumer staples, financials and energy.
In March, the Dow Jones index fell 4.2% and the S&P 500 was off by 5.8%, which was the worst month since September 2022, while in the March quarter the S&P 500 slipped 4.6%, its worst performance since the third quarter of 2022.
“So it was a pretty dire start to the year as far as markets are concerned,” Felsman said.
In fixed interest markets, Australian Treasury bond yields firmed with the 10-year rate rising 0.27% to 4.405% and the two-year rate gaining 0.14% to 3.697%, defying the trend in the United States where bond yields dropped on expectations of interest rate cuts.
