Australian sharemarket set to open lower
The Australian share market is likely to have a slow start to the New Year as it is expected to open lower. The Australian dollar was steady at 66.73¢ this morning as futures pointed to a decline of 31 points, or about 0.36 percent.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed 2.8 points lower at 8714.30 on Wednesday as the market ended New Year’s Eve early. It remained closed on New Year’s Day.
The Australian stock market is expected to open lower on the first trading day of 2026.Credit: Louie Douvis
The stock market’s marginal gains in 2025 were well below those of many other developed countries’ stock markets. Global stocks are poised for their biggest annual gain in six years, boosted by interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve and growing interest in artificial intelligence companies.
Wall Street also had a lackluster last session of the year. While the S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent at the beginning of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.8 percent.
Wall Street’s S&P500 index is up 16.7 percent in 2025, while similar indices of the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Canada and Hong Kong are up more than 20 percent. The MSCI All Country World Index, one of the broadest measures of the stock market, is up 21 percent for the year. Among the few markets where the ASX 200 outperformed was New Zealand, where the NZ50 was up 3.7 per cent.
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