ASX tipped to edge higher in early trade

The Australian share market is expected to eke out early gains after tech giants Amazon and Netflix helped Wall Street higher amid new shutdown orders.

The SPI200 futures contract was up 8.0 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 5,431.0 points at 0800 AEST on Friday, suggesting local stocks will edge higher when the final session of the week gets underway.

New stay-at-home orders in New York helped boost Amazon.com by 4.4 per cent and Netflix by 2.9 per cent as people turn to online streaming services and home delivery of goods.

Investors remain on edge, however, as a likely bleak US quarterly earnings season looms.

The Nasdaq Composite added 139.19 points, or 1.66 per cent, to 8,532.36, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.33 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 23,537.68, and the S&P 500 gained 16.19 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 2,799.55.

The UK also extended its lockdown period to May.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index finished Thursday down 50.4 points, or 0.92 per cent, at 5,416.3 points, having earlier been down by as much as 2.2 per cent.

All sectors but consumer staples, health care and telecom closed lower, with consumer discretionaries down the most, 2.1 per cent.

Oil prices were mixed overnight while gold eased after US jobless claims rose less than a week ago.

The Australian dollar was buying 63.56 US cents at 0800 AEST, up from 63.02 US cents at the close of markets on Thursday.

You have 7 articles remaining. Unlock 15 free articles a month, it’s free.