Wall Street’s key indices have all made gains but are losing momentum as the market heads towards its close.
At 7:30am AEDT:
S&P 500: +0.3%Dow: flatNasdaq: +0.5%
Earlier in the session, the S&P 500 was up 0.6%, and the Nasdaq had gained more than 1%.
That loss of momentum has seen ASX futures slip. They are now pointing to a 0.3% gain on opening.
The slip coincides with rising tensions in the Middle East, with reports that the US is withdrawing all its troops from Syria ahead of a potential strike on Iran.
In turn, oil has jumped more than 4% with the global benchmark Brent crude back above $US70/barrel
Safe-haven gold is also in demand, up 2% to be trading just under $US 5,000/ounce.
A rebound in the tech sector has largely driven Wall Street’s rally.
NVIDIA has gained about 2% on news that it will sell “millions” more chips to Meta in a multi-year deal.
Storage technology businesses such as Sandisk, Western Digital and Seagate Technology have also made strong gains.
The sentiment was also supported by positive US economic data and the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting.
Fed officials were in nearly unanimous agreement to keep interest rates on hold at their meeting last month, but remained split over what might happen next, according to minutes of their January 27-28 meeting released on Wednesday.
Traders are pricing in a roughly 50% chance of a rate cut of at least 25 basis points by the Fed’s June meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Data released earlier in the session showed solid business spending and US economic growth in the fourth quarter.
Europe enjoyed a strong session with the broad Stoxx 600 index hitting a record high, gaining 1.2%, while the UK’s FTSE index also hit a new high, also up 1.2%.
In currency markets, the Australian dollar slipped to about 70.40 US cents amid a generally stronger US dollar and higher US Treasury yields.