ASX set to rise as Wall Street climbs; Oil steadies

Wall Street saw a rise on September 2nd as stocks regained some momentum after a three-day decline. All major US stock indexes, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite, experienced gains. The Russell 2000 small-cap index led the way, with a 1.1% increase. Within sectors, airlines, gold and silver miners, and regional banks performed strongly, while software and services, which some believe could be impacted by AI disruption, underperformed.

Chipmaker Broadcom, expected to release second-quarter results after the market closed, saw a rise, while Nvidia, a key player in the AI wave, increased by 3.2%, and Micron and Qualcomm gained 2.4% and 2.0% respectively. Lauren Cassidy, a chief investment officer, noted that while the war in the Middle East may continue, the end of it could lead to cooling energy prices and potentially lower inflation.

The AI adoption is still in early stages, she added, and could see exponential growth. The Dow Jones rose 0.56% to 53,061.89, the S&P 500 gained 0.46% to 7,666.63, and the Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.45% to 26,217.83. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, materials had the largest percentage gain, while real estate was the only sector to post a loss.

Dell, a hardware company, rose 15.8% following an increase in its annual profit and revenue forecast. Brown-Forman, a maker of Jack Daniel's, gained 3.9% after reporting a beat in its quarterly profit. Uber Technologies climbed 1.6% after announcing it would lay off about 10% of its workforce. The rise in stock prices was tempered by the ongoing global bond sell-off, driven by inflation concerns and growing government debt, as well as escalating tensions in the Middle East that have pushed up energy prices.

ADP reported fewer private sector job additions in August than expected, and new orders for core capital goods were revised downward, indicating a potential slowdown in US corporate spending. Economic reports for September 3 include payrolls processor ADP, new orders for core capital goods, and services PMI. On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a ratio of 1.78 to 1, with 150 new highs and 290 new lows.

On the Nasdaq, 3,102 stocks rose and 1,679 fell, with a 1.85-to-1 ratio of advancing issues to decliners. The S&P 500 had 12 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 58 new highs and 135 new lows. Trading volume on US exchanges reached 14.75 billion shares, slightly lower than the average 15.19 billion for the last 20 trading sessions.