Investing.com - The Australian stock market added 0.7% at Wednesday's open, encouraged by increases in gold and oil prices. Wall Street also closed on a higher note as traders and investors continued to dissect the latest earnings reports and comments from Federal Reserve policymakers.
A successful sale of $US54 billion worth of 3-Year US notes reportedly improved overall market sentiment. The US government plans to sell an additional $US42 billion of 10-Year Treasuries on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT).
Loretta Mester, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, expressed that despite inflation being above the Fed's 2% target, the inflation news is promising. She highlighted the necessity of being cautious about maintaining the rapid pace of disinflation experienced last year. Mester's comments align with those of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, emphasizing that policymakers are not in haste to shift towards cutting interest rates, thereby risking the progress achieved in curbing inflation.
While the top six or seven tech giants traded within a relatively narrow range, Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) Inc. experienced a significant surge. The company's shares jumped by over 30% following a report of high demand for its artificial intelligence technology and an optimistic profit outlook for 2024.
The Australian dollar saw a 0.6% increase, while Bitcoin rose by 1.9%. ASX futures were up 55 points or 0.7% to 7588 as of 8am AEDT, indicating a potentially strong market opening.
Today, the local agenda includes the release of NZ's fourth-quarter employment and private wages data. The overseas data to be released includes German industrial production for December and the US trade balance for December.