The Australian sharemarket opened higher, mirroring a surge in New York driven by anticipation of potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Attention is particularly drawn to the Reserve Bank of Australia's meeting, with expectations of a neutral to slightly hawkish stance in its statement, despite minimal anticipation of a rate hike.
At 11:30am, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.37 per cent higher at 7,710.90.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 37 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Utilities, up 1.4 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Financials, down 0.16 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is AGL Energy (ASX:AGL), trading 6.38 per cent higher at $9.91. It is followed by shares in Medibank Private (ASX:MPL) and Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY).
The worst-performing large cap is BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL), trading 1.77 per cent lower at $22.26. It is followed by shares in Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2334.60 an ounce.
Iron ore is 2.7 per cent higher at US$120.20 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.95 per cent rise.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.27 US cents.
