Markets rally ahead of Fed Policy decision

Stocks rallied on Tuesday with all three three key indexes finishing the day in the green. All eyes and attention remain focused on the Federal Reserve policy meeting currently in progress.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day up 320 points, or 0.83 per cent. The S&P 500 closed up 0.56 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.39 per cent.

Turning to US sectors, all except one sector closed higher with Energy the best performer closing up over 1 per cent. The worst performing and only sector to finish in negative territory was Communications closing down 0.17 per cent.

The market’s focus, however, remained firmly on the Fed policy meeting. Policy makers are expected to release a statement at 5am AEDT tomorrow. Expectations are for Fed Chairman to continue to reiterate that the Fed is still looking for more data that inflation is definitely cooling following a recent slate of mixed data. Rates are expected to remain unchanged.

Treasury yields dipped broadly in trading with the rate on the benchmark 10-year Treasury down more than 4 basis points at 4.296 per cent.

In stock news Apple led five of the Magnificent Seven higher with Tesla and Alphabet the only two to finish in negative territory. Nvidia bounced back from a weak open to finish the day up 1 per cent as investors continued to evaluate Nvidia’s latest AI chip, Blackwell, which the Company unveiled during yesterday’s GTC Conference.

AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it will buy Canadian drug developer Fusion Pharmaceuticals for $2 billion in cash as the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker bets on next-generation cancer treatments.The deal gives AstraZeneca a foothold in the radiopharmaceutical drugs market, which has seen increasing investor interest since 2021 when data from Novartis' treatment showed that the drug extended survival for prostate cancer patients. Fusion Pharmaceuticals closed up 99.06 per cent at $21.18

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.2 per cent gain.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 8.10am was buying 65.34 US cents.

Commodities

Gold lost 0.12 per cent. Silver fell 0.59 per cent. Copper dropped 1.51 per cent. Oil gained 0.85 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE added 0.20 per cent, Frankfurt gained 0.31 per cent, and Paris closed 0.65 per cent higher.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.66 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.24 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.72 per cent..

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.36 per cent higher at 7,703.23.

Ex-dividends
Brisbane Broncos (ASX:BBL) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
CTI Logistics (ASX:CLX) is paying 5 cents fully franked
Enero Group Ltd (ASX:EGG) is paying 3 cents fully franked
Genesis Energy Ltd (ASX:GNE) is paying 6.58 cents unfranked
Kelsian Group Ltd (ASX:KLS) is paying 8 cents fully franked
Mader Group Limited (ASX:MAD) is paying 3.8 cents fully franked
Macmahon Holdings (ASX:MAH) is paying 0.45 cents unfranked
Supply Network (ASX:SNL) is paying 23 cents fully franked

Dividends payable
Australian Ethical Investment Ltd (ASX:AEF)
Computershare Ltd (ASX:CPU)
Heartland Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:HGH)
Lynch Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:LGL)
MA Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MAF)
Medibank Private Ltd (ASX:MPL)
NZME Ltd (ASX:NZM)
Pengana Capital Group Ltd (ASX:PCG)
Redox Ltd (ASX:RDX)
SG Fleet Group Ltd (ASX:SGF)
Virgin Money UK PLC (ASX:VUK)

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

Disclaimer

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