The ASX followed Wall Street higher at the opening bell on Thursday after US November Consumer Price Index (CPI) data cemented expectations for a rate cut next week.
The S&P/ASX 200 added 29.6 points, or 0.35%, to 8,383.2 points as of 10:31am AEDT. The index is down 1.08% over the last five days, and sits 1.54% below its 52-week high.
Eight of 11 sectors were in the green in early trade. Industrials and energy both rose 0.11%, however materials edged back a marginal 0.02%.
US equities rallied overnight after US CPI data lined up with market consensus, meaning the Federal Reserve is more likely than not to roll out a 25-basis-point cut at next week’s meeting.
ANZ says the European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank are also expected to cut rates at their respective meetings tonight.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada has slashed its rates by 50 basis points, marking its second consecutive rate cut and taking the policy rate to the top end of the range of its neutral estimate of 2.25% to 3.25%.
Australian labour force data is due out at this morning, with the unemployment rate expected to be 4.1% (versus market 4.2%) and employment growth of 25,000 forecast (versus market 30,000), according to ANZ economists.
Oil and gas producer Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) advanced 7% to $1.30 in early trade, followed by gold producer Regis Resources (ASX:RRL), which climbed 3.86% to $2.96. Fellow gold producer Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) shifted up 3.6% to $2.88.
Aluminium major Alcoa (ASX:AAI) slipped 3.07% to $62.24, mining services heavyweight Downer EDI (ASX:DOW) retreated 2.1% to $5.59, and diversified miner South32 (ASX:S32) was down a further 1.42% at $3.47 today.
The S&P/ASX 200 is Australia’s leading share market index and contains the top 200 ASX-listed companies in terms of market capitalisation, and accounts for about 80% of the country’s equity market. The index is designed to measure the performance of the 200 largest index-eligible stocks listed on the ASX by float-adjusted market capitalisation.
It is recognised as the institutional investable benchmark in the country.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: ASX & iStock
