Wall Street rebounded strongly on Friday as investors embraced renewed expectations of a US interest rate cut in December. The Dow rose 1.08% or 493 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained nearly 1% and 0.88% respectively, following comments from New York Fed President John Williams that policy is only modestly restrictive and could be eased further. Rate-sensitive names such as Home Depot, Starbucks and McDonald’s led the rally, helping markets recover from a volatile week marked by sharp swings and fading enthusiasm around Nvidia’s earnings. Despite Friday’s bounce, major indices still finished the week lower, with the S&P 500 and Dow down about 2% and the Nasdaq falling 2.7%. Bitcoin also reflected weaker risk appetite, dropping more than 2% on Friday and nearly 11% for the week as investors moved away from speculative assets.
What’s ahead in Australia:
The ASX is set for a strong start to the week, with futures up 92 points or 1.1% to 8519 after Wall Street’s late rally. Local attention will focus on Wednesday’s monthly CPI release, now the key inflation indicator. Economists expect a modest 0.1% rise for October, with annual inflation forecast to edge up to about 3.9% from 3.5%, a result likely to shape expectations for the Reserve Bank’s next move.
In company news,
Pro Medicus signs $29m in new US imaging contracts
Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) has secured three new US imaging contracts worth a combined minimum of $29m, covering a major children’s hospital in Alabama, a cancer centre in New York, and the Vancouver Clinic in Washington. All contracts are cloud-based and run for five to seven years, lifting the company’s total first-half FY26 contract value to $273m. The company says the diversity of these new clients reinforces the broad applicability of its Visage imaging platform and notes that its sales pipeline remains strong ahead of the upcoming RSNA conference.
Somerset Minerals (ASX:SMM) expands high-grade copper system at Jura North
Somerset Minerals reported strong results from its Jura North drilling, including thick, high-grade intersections such as 42.7m at 2.69% copper and 59.4m at 1.5%. Every hole drilled so far has intersected copper mineralisation, with geophysics indicating the system may extend to more than 600m depth. Alongside drilling, the company has launched a large regional exploration program across its 1,665km² landholding, targeting more than 100 mapped copper occurrences to define what may be an emerging belt-scale copper province.
Aura Energy secures new 1,000ha exploration permit in Sweden
Aura Energy (ASX:AEE) has been granted a new 1,012-hectare exploration tenement in Sweden, located immediately adjacent to its Häggån project. The new Gräsmyråsen permit strengthens the company’s position in the region and may allow future expansion of the Häggån polymetallic resource, which already contains 2.5 billion tonnes including uranium, vanadium and SOP. The approval follows the Swedish government’s decision to lift its national uranium exploration ban from January 2026, opening the door to renewed development activities.
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Source: Finance News Network
