A strong start to the week in New York has provided the impetus for Australian share prices to keep rising on Tuesday.
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) futures trading indicates the ASX 200 index will open 0.16% higher at 10 am AEDT (11 pm GMT Monday) with the March share price index (SPI) contract last trading 14 points above the previous settlement at 8,689 points.
U.S. stocks finished in the black on Monday (Tuesday AEDT), the first day of a holiday-shortened trading week, as technology stocks led a broad-based rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% to 23,428.8 as upward momentum was maintained from the previous week.
"I don't necessarily think it's going to go much higher; it's going to continue to churn," Slatestone Wealth Partner and Chief Market Strategist Ken Polcari was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
"Today we're trading higher, but I wouldn't be surprised if we back off again and then we just rally again right into about where we are."
The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Monday after energy stocks defied the release of details of a gas reservation plan, with the ASX 200 gaining 0.9% to 8,699.9 points.
In the wake of the announcement, stocks to continue to watch include Santos (ASX: STO), Beach Energy (ASX: BBT) and Woodside (ASX: WDS).
In fixed interest, Australian Government bond yields fell across the curve with two-year rates dropping 0.24% to 4.076% while 10-year rates dropped 0.15% to 4.803%.
