A rising Dow lifts all boats higher around the world’s exchanges as Australian stocks make big gains
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 19,000 for the first time ever on Tuesday driven by the election of Donald Trump and rising oil prices, leading to continued gains on stocks around the world.
As Japanese exchanges enjoyed a public holiday focus turned overnight to Australia, where the S&P/ASX 200 recorded gains of 2.56 per cent to reach its highest point since October.
The Australian exchange, which is heavily weighted towards commodities, rose on the back of wildly swinging iron ore prices.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 continued to hover near all-time highs, up 0.31 per cent and 0.22 per cent respectively.
Read more: The Trump effect pushes the Dow above 19,000 in New York
The FTSE 100 was up 0.81 per cent in morning trading ahead of Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Statement as the pound’s value fell against a strengthening dollar.
The Dow’s new milestone follows a heady few days for US equities, driven relentlessly upwards since the election of Donald Trump as the next US President.
Trump’s campaign trail plans for a $500bn spending injection to fund infrastructure, accompanied by huge tax cuts, have led to investors pouring money into US stocks to take advantage of the implied fiscal stimulus.
In the last week stock markets have also been driven higher by big gains for oil companies, ahead of expectations that Opec could cut production at its meeting next week. The US President-elect has also given them a boost with an expected deregulatory agenda.