Australian shares are poised to rise, tracking gains in New York. Home Depot, McDonald’s and Apple paced 27 of the Dow’s 30 components higher. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite also each advanced. Apple led four of the Magnificent Seven higher; Tesla, Alphabet and Meta were lower. Nvidia reversed an opening swoon of more than 3 per cent to close up 1.1 per cent as several analysts lifted price targets for the semiconductor maker.
Fed chairman Jerome Powell is expected to reiterate that the central bank is keen for more evidence that inflation is cooling, and he’s likely to temper near-term bets for a rate cut. “We currently have the first rate cut occurring in May but if the meeting plays out as we anticipate, the Fed will likely wait until June,” Oxford Economics said. Most other economists have already pushed back until at least June.