Nvidia Leads Wall Street Rally, Boosting ASX Prospects

ASX to rise, Nvidia paces Wall Street rally

Australian shares are poised to rise after August's US CPI data pointed to a more gradual pace of interest rate cuts, dashing some hopes for a half-point move when Federal Reserve policymakers meet next week. Nvidia leapt 8 per cent after CEO Jensen Huang said the company is struggling meet demand expectations, easing concerns that AI momenum might be slowing. The leap also supercharged Arm Holdings, Super Micro and Broadcom. The Philadelphia semiconductor index surged 4.9 per cent, helping erase a slump to start the month. ASX futures were up 50 points or 0.6 per cent near 7am AEST. The US listed shares of both BHP and Rio Tinto advanced more than 2 per cent in New York. Albemarle, one of the largest lithium miners in the world, jumped 13.6 per cent. As for the US data, the so-called core consumer price index -- which excludes food and energy costs -- increased 0.3 per cent from July, the most in four months, and 3.2 per cent from a year ago. Evercore ISI's Krishna Guha said the August report will make it harder for Fed chairman Jerome Powell to deliver a 50 basis point cut this month. "We reiterate that if the Fed does not do 50 in September, we think it will in November." Oil rebounded amid concerns about the impact of Hurricane Francine ripped on the US Gulf of Mexico. On Thursday, the Commonwealth Bank Household Spending Insights report is issued. IGO hosts a strategy day. BHP, Breville, Nine Entertainment, Perpetual and TPG Telecom shares all trade ex-dividend. Star's lenders offer $150m lifeline as casino fights for survival The gaming group, which operates in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, has been in turmoil since its shares were suspended from trade earlier this month.

ASX to rise, Nvidia helps offset dashed rate cut hopes

"Market-implied inflation expectations over the next two years are for CPI inflation of just 1.5 per cent, meaning an extended undershoot of the Fed's target," Adams also said. "If inflation does slow that much, the Fed would likely cut rates faster than just a quarter per cent per meeting over the next three-to-six months." Star's lenders offer $150m lifeline as casino fights for survival The gaming group, which operates in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, has been in turmoil since its shares were suspended from trade earlier this month. Union wants BHP to pay $10,000 annual bonuses to iron ore workers The $10,000 retention bonus is part of a log of claims presented to BHP on Wednesday as unions seek to retake the Pilbara. Nvidia rallied after chief executive officer Jensen Huang said the company is struggling meet expectations. "The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most," he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group technology conference in San Francisco. "We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It's tense. We're trying to do the best we can." Huang was asked whether the massive AI spending is providing customers with a return on investment. That's been a concern during the tech industry's AI frenzy. But he said companies have no choice other than to embrace "accelerated computing." Nvidia's technology speeds up conventional workloads -- data processing -- as well as handling AI tasks that older technology can't manage, he said. ** Separately, Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson told Bloomberg that while AI could very well transform productivity over time, investors who bid up equities on its potential in the short-term were premature. "The AI dream -- a little bit of that luster has come off," he said. "We just got overcooked on the whole AI theme. It doesn't mean it's over." Wilson reiterated his preference for quality defensive stocks, recommending areas such as utilities, consumer staples, and health care as the fervour around chipmakers fades, at least temporarily. Investors are likely to hide out in those sectors until they get the "next thing, whether it is a bad outcome or a positive outcome", he said. ** Following the president debate, which pundits said Kamala Harris won, shares in Trump Media & Technology Group tumbled as much as 18 per cent to a record low. The unprofitable media company's drop extends a slump that has erased nearly $US6 billion in market value since May. The latest decline puts the stock on track to fall for an eighth straight week and leaves it nearly 80 per cent below its March high. Local: NZ August food prices and credit card spending at 8.45am Overseas data: Japan August PPI at 9.50am; US August PPI and weekly jobless claims at 10.30pm; European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde holds a press conference at 10.45pm US August CPI Underlying US inflation unexpectedly picked up in August on higher prices for housing and travel, undercutting the chances of an outsize Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next week. The so-called core consumer price index -- which excludes food and energy costs -- increased 0.3 per cent from July, the most in four months, and 3.2 per cent from a year ago, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showed. The three-month annualised rate advanced 2.1 per cent, picking up from 1.6 per cent in July, according to Bloomberg calculations. Economists see the core gauge as a better indicator of underlying inflation than the overall CPI. That measure climbed 0.2 per cent from the prior month and 2.5 per cent from a year ago in August, marking the fifth straight month the annual measure has eased and dragged down by cheaper gasoline prices. The BLS said shelter was "the main factor" in the overall advance. Labor's plan for protecting your privacy: hope the internet disappears The Albanese government has squibbed at nearly 40 key privacy reforms and given in to an outdated argument that Australia is a nation of shopkeepers. Why breaking up Qantas is a step too far in Nats' populist push The Nationals happily bashed supermarkets and Bunnings, but proposing airline break-up powers caused a swift Liberal rebuke. Tech giants in firing line to pay for swath of new online laws The Albanese government is introducing new laws to curb the harms caused by social media giants, and is also looking at how to make them pay for it.