Shares in Australia are set to open a little higher on Friday following a rally in stocks in New York overnight.
Futures trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) indicates the S&P/ASX 200 will start up by 0.06% as the December share price index contract was quoted six points over the previous settlement at 9,052 points, at the time of writing.
Burrell Stockbroking wealth adviser Adam Dight said investors were concerned about a potential correction but he saw more upside in the United States market over the rest of the year.
“Everybody is a bit on edge,” Dight said.
Stocks on Wall Street advanced on Thursday (Friday AEDT) after the White House confirmed U.S. President Donald Trump would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week and as investors considered the latest earnings results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8%, the S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.5%.
"The Trump-Xi confirmation is clearly positive," Horizon Investments head of portfolio management Zachary Hill was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
"That's a good checkpoint for sentiment, which has been really up-and-down on trade and that's obviously playing a role today."
Hill said strong earnings had also supported the market.
The Australian market had ended little changed on Thursday as higher energy stocks counteracted lower technology and materials shares, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index adding just 2.8 points to 9,032.8.
News today includes a speech by Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock and quarterly reports from Newmont (ASX: NEM), Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC).
The Australian Government bond yield curve steepened as two-year rates dropped 0.32% to 3.375% and 10-year rates added 0.12% to 4.166%, at the time of writing.
