Australian shares are set to open higher, extending their rally from Tuesday. The S&P 500 reset its record high in morning trade in New York as tech stocks pressed higher before a raft of earnings releases this week.
The benchmark index reset its record high at 6988.82, then slightly pared its advance.
The Dow Jones was dragged lower by health care stocks after the Trump administration proposed holding payment rates flat next year and UnitedHealth forecast that revenue in 2026 will fall for the first time in more than three decades, Bloomberg reported.
The Australian dollar was among the many currencies to advance as the US dollar continued to deflate. The Aussie’s strong start to the year has put the US70¢ mark within reach.
“Irrespective of your opinion of the value of the dollar, in 2025 the US dollar lost 8 per cent of its value against liquid currencies, while precious metals such as gold (52 per cent), silver (96 per cent) and copper (36 per cent) all surged,” RBC Capital Markets strategist Richard Cochinos said in a note. “This has continued straight into 2026.”
Cochinos also said: “Risk aversion, diversification, inflation worries, and confidence all underpin this rotation to some extent, and appear to be long-run drivers.”
While there’s a “confluence” of headwinds for the US dollar now, he said RBC is forecasting only modest weakness for the currency for 2026 as US economic growth is strong, demand for US assets is holding, and investment capital is flowing into the US.
Market highlights
ASX 200 futures are pointing up 25 points or 0.3 per cent to 8924.
All US prices near 12.25pm New York time.
* AUD +0.8% to US68.73¢
* Bitcoin +0.3% to $US87,605
* On Wall St: Dow -0.9% S&P +0.5% Nasdaq +1%
* VIX -0.15 to 16.00
* Gold +1.5% to $US5083.29 an ounce
* Silver -7% to $US107.35/oz
* Brent oil +2.2% to $US67.06 a barrel
* Iron ore -0.1% to $US103.55 a tonne
* 10-year yield: US 4.22% Australia 4.84%
Today’s agenda
Quarterly results are expected on Wednesday from among others Woodside Energy, Ampol and Boss Energy.
US Federal Reserve policymakers have begun their scheduled January meeting with a statement to be released at 6am AEDT on Thursday, and a press conference with Jerome Powell half an hour later.
Texas Instruments and Seagate will report after the market close in New York on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) with ASML reporting early Wednesday and Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Tesla poised to report after Wednesday’s (Thursday AEDT) closing bell.
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