Australian shares are poised to leap 1 per cent higher to start Friday’s trading session, catching a bullish wave that lifted the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 more than 3 per cent.

ASX 200 futures were up 94 points or 1.1 per cent to 9005 near 4.45am AEST. The S&P 500 rallied 1.5 per cent near 2.45pm in New York, paced by a 5 per cent surge in the information technology sector.

Microsoft soared near 17 per cent, adding almost $500 billion ($700 billion) in market value which Bloomberg said put the company’s shares on track to record the largest one-day increase in market value for any stock in history.

The surge came after the company reported stellar quarterly results after Wednesday’s closing bell.

Also revived, semiconductors. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was 7.4 per cent higher. Among the Nasdaq 100’s biggest advancers: Nebius, up 26 per cent; Sandisk, up 23 per cent; and, CoreWeave, up 21 per cent.

It was also good news for tech investors: Meta Platforms shed 8.7 per cent after reporting results that left unanswered questions about the potential return on the hundreds of billions Mark Zuckerberg is spending to seek an edge in artificial intelligence.

After Thursday’s closing bell, Apple and Amazon are set to report results.

Market highlights

ASX 200 futures are pointing up 94 points or 1.1 per cent to 9005.
All US prices near 2.45pm New York time.

AUD +1% to US70.28¢Bitcoin +0.4% to $US64,623On Wall St: Dow +1.2% S&P +1.5% Nasdaq +2.6%VIX -2.84 to 17.82Gold +0.8% to $US4100.31 an ounceBrent oil -1.6% to $US89.28 a barrelIron ore -2.5% to $US95.70 a tonne10-year yield: US 4.66% Australia 4.99%Today’s agenda

Fortescue is set to release its June quarter production report on Friday morning (it is scheduled to release its fiscal year results on August 24).

June private sector credit is scheduled for release at 11:30am AEST. Earlier, ANZ will release July NZ consumer confidence data.

Overseas, Bank of Japan policymakers are set to meet. Separately Japan will release its June jobless rate, industrial production and retail sales. At 11.30am AEST, China is set to release July manufacturing and services PMIs.

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