The Australian share market is set to rise again, with ASX 200 futures up 3pts (+0.03%) as of 8:30 am AEST. The index extended gains on Wednesday, rising 0.28% to 8,960 as strength in miners and upbeat corporate earnings outweighed a hotter-than-expected inflation print. Wall Street’s record highs and ongoing momentum in global equities also underpinned sentiment, while investors weighed prospects for further Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) rate cuts later in the year.

ASX extends gains despite hotter inflation

The ASX rally was underpinned by strength in the Materials sector, up 1.42% on the back of ongoing momentum in major mining stocks. Health Care also rose 0.81% and Consumer Discretionary gained 0.55%. The downside came from Consumer Staples, which dropped sharply by 4.99%, alongside Information Technology down 2.67% and Telecommunications off 1.02%.

Market support came from three fronts: a positive lead from Wall Street, encouraging local earnings, and sustained strength in the miners. This was achieved despite hotter inflation data. July’s Monthly CPI indicator climbed to 2.8% year-on-year, up from 1.9% in June, marking the highest reading in 12 months. Trimmed mean inflation also rose to 2.7%, pulling back to the middle of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target range.

The Reserve Bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold in September, but markets are pricing in a cumulative 25 basis point cut for November and 33 basis points by December. With Q3 inflation due on October 29, the central bank’s cautious easing cycle is expected to continue in November if data is supportive.

Earnings season drove sharp individual moves. Woolworths slid 14.69% to A$28.51 after slashing its dividend on weak supermarket and Big W results. Domino’s Pizza plunged 22% to A$15.10 after reporting a FY25 loss of A$3.7 million, including A$162.3 million in impairments. In contrast, Tabcorp surged 23.94% to A$0.88 after delivering EBITDA of A$391.5 million, up 23.2% year-on-year, while SiteMinder jumped 21.1% to A$6.60 following a 27% rise in annual recurring revenue to A$205 million.

Today’s earnings calendar includes Mineral Resources, IGO, Sandfire Resources, Wesfarmers, Qantas, Appen, and Medibank.

US markets climb as NVIDIA delivers strong results

US markets rallied overnight, with the S&P 500 notching a record close ahead of NVIDIA’s results. The AI chip leader posted revenues of US$46.7 billion, ahead of expectations and up 56% on the same period last year. Earnings per share came in at US$1.05 versus consensus of US$1.01, while margins expanded to 72.4%.

Data centre revenue grew 62% year-on-year to US$41.1 billion, driven by demand for Blackwell AI chips. However, sales of H20 chips to China were halted due to US export restrictions, creating an expected US$8 billion shortfall for the current quarter.

NVIDIA founder and chief executive Jensen Huang said: “The AI race is on, and Blackwell is the platform at its center,” highlighting strong orders from Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and AI-native startups. The company guided Q3 revenue at US$54 billion, slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Despite the upbeat results, NVIDIA shares fell 3.1% in after-hours trading to US$176.05 on valuation concerns and lack of China sales. Nasdaq futures slipped 0.53% as AI-linked peers including Super Micro Computer and AMD fell around 2%. Investors now turn to the second estimate of US Q2 GDP, weekly jobless claims, and a speech by Fed Governor Waller, considered a frontrunner to succeed Jerome Powell.

European markets stabilise on political concerns

European equities stabilised after a sharp sell-off earlier in the week. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.4% from a three-week low, although political risks remain over the stability of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s government. Banking stocks were weak, with Deutsche Bank down 3.4% and Commerzbank off 4.9% following a Goldman Sachs downgrade. Offsetting this, personal and household goods gained 1.5%.

The continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 added 0.1%. In London, the FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower.

Currencies ease against the US dollar

The US dollar retreated against major peers. 


The euro gained to US$1.1642 from US$1.1573. 
The Australian dollar firmed to US65.05 cents from US64.61 cents.
The Japanese yen strengthened to JPY147.40 per US dollar.

Commodities mixed as oil rises and metals retreat

Oil prices gained after US crude inventories fell by 2.4 million barrels, larger than the 1.9 million draw expected. Brent crude lifted US83 cents or 1.2% to US$68.05 a barrel and WTI rose US90 cents or 1.4% to US$64.15.

Base metals weakened, with copper futures down 0.8% and aluminium off 1.4% as higher inventories and Chinese demand concerns weighed. Iron ore futures ticked up US6 cents to US$101.59 a tonne.

Gold rose US$15.60 or 0.5% to US$3,448.60 an ounce on safe-haven demand amid concerns about central bank independence following political pressure on the Federal Reserve.