Natalia Kniazhevich and Felice Maranz
The Australian sharemarket is set to slip on opening, with futures pointing to a slight fall of 12 points, or 0.14 per cent, at the open. The ASX was down on Christmas Eve by 33 points, with 10 of 11 industry sectors in the red.
The Australian dollar is trading at about US67.02 cents this morning.
US stocks wavered near a record high in thin holiday trading on Friday as investors shifted attention to a relentless rally in commodities. Nvidia climbed as analysts viewed a licensing deal with artificial intelligence start-up Groq positively.
The S&P 500 finished little changed and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1 per cent. Among S&P 500 sectors, materials and tech led gains, while consumer discretionary and energy retreated.
Optimism remains anchored to seasonal patterns. Equity bulls are increasingly focused on a so-called Santa Claus Rally – the stretch covering the final trading sessions of the year and the first two of January – as a potential catalyst for further gains, even as enthusiasm around AI and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate outlook comes under greater scrutiny.
“Markets remain constructive but selective with the final four sessions to go,” Piper Sandler chief market technician Craig Johnson wrote in a note. “The combination of improving breadth and easing inflation supports the call for a Santa Claus rally into year-end.”
Precious metals surged to fresh records, extending a powerful year-end rally that was fuelled by rising geopolitical tensions and a softer US dollar. Gold, silver and platinum all climbed to all-time highs, lifting shares of miners including Coeur Mining Inc and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. The spot gold price rose 1.1 per cent; earlier, the yellow metal had peaked above $US4530 ($6760) an ounce.
Oil advanced towards the biggest weekly gain since October as traders weighed up supply risks. The markets tracked reports of a partial US blockade of crude shipments from Venezuela, alongside a military strike by Washington that targeted a terrorist group in Nigeria.
The S&P 500 had been up nearly 18 per cent year to December 24, marking a third straight year of double-digit gains. Wall Street strategists largely expect the advance to continue, with the average forecast for the index standing at 7464 by the end of next year, implying upside of about 7.7 per cent, Bloomberg data shows.
Confidence has also been returning around the outlook for corporate profits, particularly after earlier worries that valuations in technology stocks had raced too far ahead amid the AI boom. Investors are increasingly betting that companies will deliver the earnings growth needed to justify prices in 2026.
“2026 is likely going to be a prove-it year for markets,” wrote Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. “Companies must deliver tangible productivity and margin gains from artificial intelligence and other investments.”
Bloomberg
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