Source : the age
The Australian sharemarket has inched higher at the open after stocks rose on Wall Street overnight as gains by big technology companies and relatively steady oil prices and bond yields helped boost the market after a downbeat start to the week.
The S&P/ASX 200 was up 12.4 points, or 0.1 per cent, in early trade to 8990.8. The ASX lost 1 per cent on Wednesday. The Australian dollar is stronger at US71.71¢.
Shares of Corporate Travel Management plunged more than 80 per cent to a low of $2.81 after the recommenced trading, more than a year after the discovery of significant overcharging and accounting errors in its UK/Europe operations.
This week the company finally released audited financial statements for the 2025 and 2026 financial years. The 2026 accounts for the year ending June 30 received a qualified opinion from its auditors and reported a net profit of $17.7 million, compared to a loss of $348.5 million in the previous year due to significant writedowns.
Mining stocks are largely stronger, with Fortescue up 2.1 per cent and Rio Tinto 1.3 per cent stronger. BHP was down 2.1 per cent as it traded ex-dividend. Gold miners advanced, with the price of the precious metal holding a gain to trade at about $US4385 an ounce as US President Donald Trump appeared to rule out prolonged military action in the Middle East, easing inflationary concerns of a renewed spike in energy prices. Northern Star and Evolution Mining added 1.6 per cent in early trade.
Financial stocks are higher with ANZ Bank leading the way with a 1.1 per cent gain. Commonwealth Bank inched up 0.1 per cent, National Australia Bank added 0.5 per cent and Westpac was 0.6 per cent higher in early trade.
Energy stocks slid as oil prices dipped overnight. Brent, the international standard, was down 0.4 per cent in early Asian trade to $US95.26 a barrel. Woodside Energy lost 3 per cent as it traded ex-dividend while Santos slipped 0.3 per cent. Among the refiners, Ampol shed 0.7 per cent and Viva Energy lost 0.5 per cent.
Brent crude settled up 1 per cent at $US95.63. Chevron edged 0.3 per cent higher after confirming it would expand operations in Venezuela.
Technology stocks slid lower as Xero lost 0.1 per cent, WiseTech fell 1.4 per cent, Technology One lost 1.8 per cent and NEXTDC dropped 0.4 per cent. Life360 was 2.6 per cent higher.
Wall Street has been under pressure this week from rising oil prices and a bond-market sell-off. The rocky start to September follows a mostly positive August during which every major index notched a gain for the month.
It remains gripped by anxiety over rising prices, government debt and the impact of global conflicts on the US and the global economy.
Overnight on Wall Street, technology and communication services stocks accounted for some of the strongest gains. Computer memory seller Micron Technology gained 2.4 per cent. Chipmaker Nvidia, whose big market value tend to give it more influence over the broader market’s direction, rose 3.2 per cent, lifting the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 0.6 per cent. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite both gained 0.5 per cent.
Meta added 2.5 per cent as it released its most powerful artificial intelligence model yet, with its chief AI officer saying its capabilities are edging closer to top competitors. Developers can now access and pay for Muse Spark 1.3, an updated version of its most advanced model, the company said. It will soon roll out the update to users of Meta’s social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, as well as Meta AI.
“This is our biggest jump so far on model performance,” Meta’s chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said in an interview on Wednesday, pointing to advancements in the model’s coding and agentic capabilities (requiring limited supervision to complete tasks on behalf of human users). Wang said the update put Meta on par with recently released AI models from its rivals OpenAI and Anthropic.
Dell Technologies jumped 15.8 per cent for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks after delivering strong second-quarter profits amid accelerating demand for artificial intelligence computing. The company also raised its fiscal year revenue outlook.
Palo Alto Networks also reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street’s expectations, citing a strong market for AI cybersecurity, but its shares fell 9.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, banks and credit card issuers also helped boost the market. Capital One Financial rose 2.5 per cent and American Express added 1.8 per cent.
Markets in Europe fell after markets in Asia closed lower.
The big focus this week will be the government’s broader employment report for August, which will be released on Friday. The previous report for July showed that the jobs market stalled, with employers cutting positions.
Both inflation and the job market have been key focuses for Wall Street and the Federal Reserve.
“Friday’s employment report, and perhaps even more importantly next week’s inflation data, will play a significant role in determining whether policymakers decide to raise rates in September,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior global strategist, investment strategy at Edward Jones, in a research note.
The Fed is trying to balance its task of supporting employment and taming inflation. Wall Street expects the central bank to raise interest rates before the year ends in an effort to cool inflation, which remains well above 3 per cent. The Fed has a stated goal of cooling inflation to 2 per cent.
The bond market has been selling off, which is a signal that it expects borrowing costs to rise.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which tends to impact mortgage rates, rose to 4.80 per cent from 4.79 per cent late on Tuesday. It has been rising steadily throughout the year and was as low as 4.20 per cent at the beginning of 2026.
The yield on the two-year Treasury, which closely tracks expectations for Federal Reserve moves on interest rates, held steady at 4.39 per cent. It is significantly higher for the year, though, and was as low as 3.50 per cent at the beginning of 2026.
Investors are also betting on a 64 per cent chance that the Fed will raise rates at its upcoming meeting in September, according to CME FedWatch.
With AP, Bloomberg
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