The Australian sharemarket is expected to open higher on Thursday despite a mixed performance in New York overnight marked by a rally in technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index should begin about 0.4% stronger, with futures trading putting the December share price index contract 38 points over the previous settlement at 9,009.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices reached new peaks on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) despite the United States government shutdown showing no signs of ending.
Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting showed a committee divided about the outlook for interest rates, while Nvidia, Dell and Datadog were among the tech shares to rise.
The S&P 500 put on 0.6% and the Nasdaq added 1.1% but the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped back by just 1.20 points.
U.S. Bank Wealth Management Head of Capital Market Research Bill Merz noted the continuing stream of deals related to artificial intelligence (AI).
"Anything attached to AI is garnering a significant amount of attention," he was quoted in a Reuters report as saying.
The Australian market had ended down on Wednesday with the S&P/ASX 200 losing 0.2% to 8,943.7 points.
Companies with news today include REA Group (ASX: REA), which holds its annual general meeting, and Netwealth Group (ASX: NWL), which provides a trading update.
In fixed interest markets, yields on Australian Government bonds dropped, with two-year rates losing 0.31% to 3.503% and 10-year rates conceding 0.23% to 4.33%.
