Global Markets Report - 20 September

ASX set to open higher, after US stocks rallied as investors rethought Wednesday's Fed rate cut.

20 September 2024

Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US stocks rallied as investors rethought Wednesday's Fed rate cut and piled back into technology and discretionary sectors.

ASX futures were up 0.37% or 31 points as of 8:00am on Friday, suggesting a higher open.

The Federal Reserve's big rate cut sparked a furious global rally in stocks as traders bid up technology shares and other risky assets in a bet that lower borrowing costs will help keep unemployment low without reigniting inflation.

The rally was a delayed yet emphatic response to the central bank's decision Wednesday to cut interest rates by a half percentage point that pushed the S&P 500 to its first record high since mid July and the Dow to close above 42,000 points for the first time.

The tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite led the way, climbing 2.5%. The S&P 500 added 1.7%, surpassing the broad index's previous peak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.3%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 1.7% to US$74.88 a barrel, while gold was flat at US$2,587.04.

The Australian dollar was at 68.12 US cents, down from its previous close of 68.13.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7% to 2,736.02, and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 1.6% to 1,497.00.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 2.0% to 18,013.16.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.1% to 37,155.33.

India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX increased 0.3% to 83,184.80.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index added 0.9% to 8,328.72.

In Europe, shares closed higher. Germany's DAX gained 1.6% to 19,002.38, and France's CAC 40 rose 2.3% to 7,615.41.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA added 1.3% to 42,025.19, the S&P 500 gained 1.7% to 5,713.64, and the Nasdaq increased 2.5% to 18,013.98.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Darden Restaurants Inc, surging 8.33%, Tesla Inc jumped 7.35%, and Quanta Services Inc lifted 6.59%.

The biggest decliners were Deckers Outdoor Corp which dropped 3.26%, Ventas Inc fell 3.13%, and Arthur J. Gallagher & Co lost 3.08%.

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AUTHOR

Morningstar
Morningstar provides data on more than 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 17 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets.

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