US markets hit new records ahead of Fed Policy meeting

Nvidia and the tech sector help the S&P 500 and Nasdaq close at new record highs as investors look to Wednesday’s Fed Policy meeting.

The S&P 500 closed up 0.26 per cent at a record 5,360.79. The Nasdaq finished 0.35 per cent higher also setting a new record close at 17,192.53. The Dow Jones closed 0.18 per cent higher.

Investors now turn their attention to two key events this week, as May CPI and the Fed Policy meeting take centre stage. The May CPI data will be released at 10.30pm on Wednesday AEST. Powell will speak after the end of the latest policy meeting with a statement set for 4am on Thursday AEST. Powell will speak half an hour later.

In company news Nvidia closed 0.8 per cent higher as the stock’s 10 for 1 split took effect. Eli Lilly closed 1.8 per cent higher hitting a fresh 52 week high as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel unanimously agreed its Alzheimer’s treatment, donanemab, was effective for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Apple has unveiled the latest version of the iPhone’s operating system, iOS 18, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The Company announced that Siri will now be able to tap into OpenAI’s ChatGPT when needed. It said it will also add other third-party artificial intelligence models going forward.

Turning to US sectors, the best performing sector was Utilities which closed up 1.28 per cent. The worst performer was Financials which closed down 0.39 per cent.

In European news, The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.27 per cent, and the euro slipped 0.51 per cent against the U.S. dollar and 0.57 per cent against the British pound following the initial results from the EU Parliamentary elections which saw populist and far-right parties perform strongly. The right could now have a bigger hand in European policymaking over the next five years.

The French President Emmanuel Macron surprised markets by calling a snap parliamentary election later this month after suffering a heavy defeat in the EU vote.

In local news, the NAB Business Survey for May is due at 11:30am AEST today.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.4 per cent fall.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 7.20am was buying 66.10 US cents.

Commodities

Gold has added 0.09 per cent. Silver has gained 1.47 per cent. Copper has risen 1.34 per cent. Oil has gained 2.93 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed lower. London’s FTSE fell 0.20 per cent, Frankfurt lost 0.34 per cent, and Paris closed 1.35 per cent lower.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.92 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.59 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.08 per cent higher.

On Friday, the Australian share market closed 0.49 per cent higher at 7,860.02.

Ex-dividends
McGrath Ltd (ASX:MEA) is paying 1.6 cents fully franked

Dividends payable
Amcor PLC (ASX:AMC)

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

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