A stronger start is expected on the Australian sharemarket on Thursday in the wake of stock prices in New York being lifted by expectations of an interest rate cut in the United States.
An 0.2% gain on opening at 10 am AEDT (11 pm GMT Wednesday) is expected with the ASX 200 December share price index (SPI) futures contract last priced 21 points above the previous settlement at 8,620 points at the time of writing.
The three main U.S. benchmark averages closed higher on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) as economic data raised expectations for a rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%, the S&P 500 put on 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2%.
Separately, the ADP National Employment Report showed U.S. private payrolls unexpectedly declined in November. With official employment reports for October and November due only after the central bank's policy announcement, market participants have placed more weight than usual on private-sector data.
U.S. companies shed payrolls in November by the most since early 2023, adding to concerns of a weaker labour market.
"For market participants, at least, the Federal Reserve will have ammo to lay off the hawkish tone that we saw a couple of weeks ago and perhaps lean more dovish into what looks to be disappointing and weakening labor data as we get this kind of real-time restart of the data cadence that we're used to," Globalt Investments Senior Portfolio Manager Keith Buchanan was quoted saying in a Reuters story.
"That's something that the markets are obviously receiving really well today, and we'll see as the onslaught of data continues if it will continue with this tone, and the markets will continue to receive it in the same way."
The Australian market had firmed on Wednesday with the S&P/ASX 200 putting on 0.2% to 8,595.2 points after weaker-than-expected economic growth data raised hopes of interest rate cuts.
Ahead in today's session, Bendigo & Adelaide Bank (ASX: BEN) is set to host an investor day.
In the bond markets, yields on Australian Government bonds rose, with two-year rates gaining 0.1% to 3.898% and 10-year rates adding 0.09% to 4.623%.
