Australian shares rose in early trading, tracking broad gains in New York where Nvidia became the first company to trade above the $US4 trillion ($A6 trillion) valuation mark.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index rallied 51.1 points, 0.6 per cent, to 8589.7 in the opening five minutes of trading on Thursday, with nine out of 11 sectors in the green, led by a rebound in retail and property stocks.
In the real estate sector, which fell two days in a row after the Reserve Bank unexpectedly held interest rates on Tuesday, Goodman Group and GPT both rose 1.1 per cent, while Scentre jumped 1.2 per cent and Dexus edged up 0.9 per cent. The supermarkets also rose, with Woolworths and Coles both up more than 1 per cent.
US President Donald Trump said his administration will charge Brazil with a 50 per cent tariff on products sent to the US starting August 1. Trump also said he would levy a 30 per cent rate on Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka, with 25 per cent duties on products from Brunei and Moldova and a 20 per cent rate on goods from the Philippines.
Nevertheless, Nvidia became the first company in history to achieve a $US4 trillion ($6.1 trillion) market valuation after its biggest customers committed to more AI spending.
Nvidia rose 1.8 per cent on the day to $US162.88, finishing with a market value of $US3.97 trillion. It peaked at $US164.42 during the session.
Bitcoin also surged past $US112,000 for the first time, setting a fresh record alongside a broad rally in risk assets that has swept up technology stocks big and small.
“Geopolitical uncertainty and Trump’s revived call for aggressive interest rate cuts have increased demand for risk assets … particularly those with a finite supply and global liquidity,” said BTC Markets crypto analyst Rachael Lucas.
“Where previous cycles were marked by speculative excess, this rally is characterised by disciplined capital flows, ETF inflows, and balance sheet adoption. A sign of maturing market infrastructure and investor conviction.”
On the ASX, tech stocks tracked Nvidia’s rise, with Wisetech, NextDC and TechnologyOne all up 1 per cent. Pro Medicus also continued its recent charge, rising 2.7 per cent in early trading.