ASX set to slide, Apple rally leads Wall Street higher; $A stronger
The S&P 500 was 0.7 per cent higher in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 145 points, or 0.3 per cent, in mid-afternoon trade, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.1 per cent higher.
Apple alone accounted for nearly half of the S&P 500's gain. It rose 5.7 per cent ahead of an announcement at the White House where it was announced the tech giant will increase its US investments by an additional $US100 billion ($153.7 billion) over the next four years.
The Australian sharemarket is set to retreat, with futures at 4.55am AEST pointing to a fall of 27 points, or 0.3 per cent, at the open. The ASX gained 0.8 per cent on Wednesday. The Australian dollar gained. It was 0.5 per cent higher at US65.05¢ at 5.14am.
Trading elsewhere on Wall Street was mixed following a jumble of profit reports. McDonald's and Shopify rose following their latest updates, while Super Micro Computer tumbled after its earnings and revenue came in below analysts' expectations. Disney fell after its earnings beat forecasts but its revenue fell short.
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Worries are still high that President Donald Trump's tariffs may be hurting the economy, but hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a parade of stronger-than-expected profit reports from US companies have helped steady the market.
Companies are under pressure to deliver bigger profits to justify the big gains their stock prices have made since the US market hit a low point in April. The S&P 500 is just a bit below its record, which was set late last month, and the big rally fuelled criticism that the broad market has become too expensive.
McDonald's climbed 3.4 per cent after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the spring than analysts expected. A meal tied to the Minecraft movie proved to be a hit for the restaurant chain.
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