Australian shares are poised to open lower with investors keenly awaiting the Reserve Bank’s policy statement and any forward-looking comments from governor Michele Bullock’s press conference.

In New York, the S&P 500 was modestly higher at 3.20pm, bolstered by continuing enthusiasm for artificial intelligence after two more massive investment deals. Nvidia rallied 2.3 per cent.

Note: With a time change in North America this past weekend, Wall Street now closes at 8am AEDT.

Amazon’s cloud unit has signed a $US38 billion ($58 billion) deal to supply a slice of OpenAI’s bottomless demand for computing power. Amazon shares were up 4.1 per cent.

Separately, Microsoft has signed a near $US9.7 billion ($14.8 billion) deal to purchase AI cloud capacity from Sydney-based Iren, becoming the Australian company’s largest customer. Iren was 13.4 per cent higher.

“Last week’s reports from Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon show all four hyperscalers boosting capex from already-elevated levels, signalling rising aggregate demand,” Societe General’s Manish Kabra said in a note. “These stocks account for 42 per cent of Nvidia’s revenue, offering comfort ahead of Nvidia’s 19 November earnings release. Meanwhile, OpenAI weekly users continue to surge, and our SG Global Cycle indicator has re-accelerated for four consecutive months.”

Still, there’s some worry that markets have risen too fast. Market strategist Ed Yardeni said: “While earnings are bullish, the signal from barometers of investor sentiment is bearish in the very short term. There are too many bulls, a bearish sign.”

Market highlights

ASX 200 futures are pointing down 12 points or 0.1 per cent to 8891.
All US prices near 3.20pm New York time.

AUD -0.1% to US65.39¢Bitcoin -3% to $US106,645On Wall St: Dow -0.5% S&P +0.2% Nasdaq +0.5%VIX -0.28 to 17.16Gold +0.2% to $US4011.42 an ounceBrent oil +0.1% to $US64.86 a barrelIron ore -1.3% to $US104.75 a tonne10-year yield: US 4.11% Australia 4.33%Today’s agenda

The key focus on Tuesday is on the Reserve Bank, which will release a policy statement and a Statement on Monetary Policy at 2.30pm AEDT. Governor Michele Bullock will host a press conference an hour later.

eToro’s Josh Gilbert: “There’s not much optimism left for a [rate] cut. Last week’s stronger-than-expected inflation print almost certainly pushes back the expectation of any more rate cuts before the year’s end.

“Q3 CPI came in hot across the board, reinforcing that price pressures are proving hard to shake. Those pressures are broad-based, led by a sharp lift in housing and health, the fastest pace since 2022 for several key categories in the CPI basket. That means a hold tomorrow; putting rate-sensitive sectors under pressure, but supporting the Aussie dollar.

“Michele Bullock and her team have already been clear that they are in no rush, and it’s clear that getting inflation under control will take longer than anticipated. Until there’s more compelling proof that inflation is trending lower, the board will sit tight, and rates won’t be moving for now.”

There are no scheduled corporate updates for Tuesday.

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