SYDNEY: The Australian sharemarket opened more than 1 per cent higher after Wall Street finished a choppy session with solid gains as investor focus shifts to this week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting.
At the 10.15am (AEST) official market open, the benchmark S & P/ASX200 was 57.5 points, or 1.13 per cent, higher at 5128.6 points, while the broader All Ordinaries added 54.3 points, or 1.07 per cent, to 5150.6 points.
CMC chief market analyst Ric Spooner said trader thinking in the week ahead will be dominated by Thursday morning’s (AEST) Fed decision.
“Although we are now only four days out from the decision, there is little sign of a market consensus developing, either on what the Fed will do or on how markets will react if they do lift rates,” he said.
“Major events like the Fed decision can often produce calm before the storm effect as traders take risk off the table, preferring to react to the news rather than pre-empt it.”
However, Mr Spooner said the high level of market volatility over recent weeks means this scenario is “by no means guaranteed”.
Health care stocks led the market higher, lifting 1.6 per cent at the open.
Ramsay Health Care added 3.67 per cent to $60.79, while ResMed increased 2.39 per cent to $7.29.
Financials posted strong gains, adding 1.27 per cent as a sector.
Commonwealth Bank rose 0.12 per cent lower at $75.22 as it completed its $5.1 billion dollar capital raising after announcing a $1.5bn shortfall in its retail entitlement on Friday.
