Australian shares are set to open higher. Shares edged up on Wall Street, with healthcare stocks pacing gains in the S&P 500, which reset its record high and closed above 6700 points for the first time.

The Nasdaq Composite was lifted by Nvidia, which reset its record high and lifted its market cap above $US4.5 trillion. Intel rose 7.1 per cent after report it’s speaking with AMD about becoming a potential key customer.

Tesla rallied 3.3 per cent on hopes the September quarter marks the end of its sales struggles; it will release quarterly delivery data on Thursday. GM, Ford and Hyundai saw a surge in new EV sales in the US this past quarter, giving the industry a boost despite ongoing uncertainty from President Donald Trump’s shifting trade policies.

Shoppers rushed to take advantage of the $US7500 federal EV tax credit that expired September 30, pushing up sales of pure battery-electric vehicles 21 per cent from the prior-year period to a record 10 per cent of overall deliveries, according to estimates from researcher Cox Automotive.

With Bloomberg

Market highlights

ASX 200 futures are pointing up 45 points or 0.5 per cent to 8922.
All US prices near 5pm New York time.

AUD -0.03% to US66.11¢Bitcoin +2.8% to $US117,593On Wall St: Dow +0.1% S&P +0.3% Nasdaq +0.4%VIX +0.01 to 16.29Gold +0.2% to $US3865.74 an ounceBrent oil -1% to $US65.37 a barrelIron ore +0.02% to $US103.60 a tonne10-year yield: US 4.10% Australia 4.36%Today’s agenda

The key focus on Thursday will the RBA’s release of its latest Financial Stability Review at 11.30am.

There also will be reports on August household spending and the August goods trade balance. In a preview note, NAB said: “We expect household spending to be 0.3 per cent month-over-month higher in August, in line with consensus, as strength in Q2 durable goods retailing normalises and as the boost to hospitality spending in July rolls off to leave what should remain a solid underlying trend in Q3 consumption.”

The US federal government shutdown has put a temporary halt on all official data prints including Friday’s anticipated September nonfarm payrolls report.

However, private sector and Federal Reserve US data will continue to be published.

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