The Australian market looks set to open higher after US stocks barrelled to fresh records following China’s surprise interest-rate cut.
At 0645 AEST on Monday, the December share price index futures contract was up 52 points at 5,360.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Friday cut its one-year rate for deposits by 0.25 of a percentage point to 2.75 per cent and its one-year lending rate by 0.40 of a percentage point to 5.6 per cent.
In local economic news on Monday, David Murray, chair of the Financial System Inquiry, is slated to speak at a Deloitte/Financial Services Council lunch in Sydney.
No major equities news is expected.
In Australia, the market on Friday suffered its fifth consecutive session of losses, taking it to its worst weekly performance in more than a year.
Shares fell even though the resources sector, the main source of weakness in recent days, staged a modest recovery.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 11.9 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 5,304.3.
The broader All Ordinaries index lost 10.4 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,292.1.