Dow Jones surges past 25,000 milestone, Wall St boosted by strong jobs data
Updated
Australian shares are tipped to open higher, after a strong night of trading in global markets.
Market snapshot at 8:15am (AEDT):
- ASX SPI 200 futures +0.7pc at 6,066, ASX 200 (Thursday's close) +0.2pc at 6,077
- AUD: 78.61 US cents, 58 British pence, 65.13 Euro cents, 88.61 Japanese yen, $NZ1.10
- US: Dow Jones +0.6pc at 25,075, S&P 500 +0.4pc at 2,724, Nasdaq +0.2pc at 7,078
- Europe: FTSE +0.3pc at 7,696, DAX +1.5pc at 13,168, Euro Stoxx 50 +1.7pc at 3,569
- Commodities: Brent crude +0.2pc at $US67.95/barrel, spot gold +0.8pc at $US1,323.81/ounce, iron ore +2.1pc at $US76.54/tonne
In addition, the Australian dollar has continued to climb, and is at a 2.5 month peak.
But whether it surges to 88 US cents in the next year, or plunges to 65 US cents, depends on which currency expert one asks.
Upbeat global sentiment
Japan's Nikkei had its best day in 26 years after it jumped 3.3 per cent, thanks to a surge in Toyota and Honda shares.
London's FTSE (+0.3pc) finished at a record-high, while markets in Paris and Frankfurt surged by 1.5 per cent each.
European markets were boosted by upbeat figures from the services sector.
The services PMI (purchasing managers index) hit 58.1 points in November, its strongest result in seven years.
The Dow's fresh record
These records are also extending to the US, which is enjoying a strong start to 2018 as the Dow Jones index broke above the 25,000 points milestones for the first time.
It only took 35 days for the Dow to jump by 1,000 points to reach that psychological barrier.
Last year, the 30-member blue-chip index crossed the 1,000-point milestones five times, bolstered by solid corporate earnings and the Trump administration's much-touted pro-growth agenda.
Earlier this week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also hit new highs — crossing the 2,700 and 7,000 points mark respectively.
Both of those indexes also ended the day with fresh records.
The catalyst for this surge was stronger than expected American job figures, released overnight.
The US private sector added 250,000 new jobs last month, according to ADP and Moody's, which was much higher than economists were expecting.
This is on top of the very-strong investor sentiment after the Trump administration passed its corporate tax cuts just before Christmas — which the Federal Reserve expects to boost consumer and business spending.
These private sector figures are often seen as a preview for what the official US job figures will look like.
"The bigger than expected 250,000 gain in the ADP measure of private payroll employment in December provides a little extra support for our above-consensus view that the official non-farm figure...will show a 210,000 increase in employment," said Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics' chief economist in the US.
"The consensus estimates for both the ADP and non-farm payrolls are a similar 190,000."
Australian market today
The US greenback is weaker against most major currencies, with the Australian dollar gaining 0.4 per cent to 78.6 US cents.
Furthermore, the local currency is buying 58 British pence and 65.1 Euro cents.
Brent crude oil is still trading at its highest price in 2.5 years, which should provide a boost to shares in the energy sector.
In economic news, the Bureau of Statistics will release its trade balance figures for the month of November.
It measures the difference in value between the nation's imports and exports.
Last month's ABS figures showed Australia's trade surplus shrunk dramatically, falling to $105 million in October.
Topics: stockmarket, company-news, economic-trends, currency, australia
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