The Australian Budget was taking a back seat to the global trade outlook as investors readied themselves for a stronger start on the Australian sharemarket on Tuesday.
A sharply higher close in New York contributed to a more positive mood among traders who bid up the benchmark equities index futures contract ahead of the 10 am AEDT (11 pm GMT Monday) opening of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
At 8:43 am AEDT the S&P/ASX 200 April share price index contract was up 36 points (0.45%) from the previous settlement at 8,020, buoyed by a more bullish atmosphere on Wall Street on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.4%, the S&P 500 increased 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite put on 2.3% following signs that the Trump administration might take a more measured approach to tariffs against United States trading partners.
Renewed optimism the world would avert a global trade war, which eased concerns about higher inflation and an economic downturn, flowed from comments that U.S. President Donald Trump made to reporters.
“I may give a lot of countries breaks, but it’s reciprocal,” Trump was quoted as saying.
“But we might be even nicer than that. You know, we’ve been very nice to a lot of countries for a long time."
Meanwhile investors are waiting for Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers to hand down the Labor Government’s fourth budget on Tuesday night ahead of an election which must be held by 17 May.
Amid a cost of living crisis, the Government has flagged more household energy rebates would be announced.
Among the ASX-listed companies likely to get attention on Tuesday are James Hardie, which announced a major acquisition on Monday, and those trading ex their latest dividend: Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ), Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SHL), Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP), REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA).
On the fixed interest markets, the 10-year Australian Treasury bond yield fell 0.25% to 4.453% and the two-year yield declined 0.08% to 3.775%.
