Company Interview / the open: ASX to rise as Wall Street tech stocks surge

Our local market is set to open significantly higher as investors cheer the latest US inflation data. ASX futures are pointing to a 0.5% rise.Core US consumer prices rose by 0.3% in November, in line with economists' estimates and reinforcing bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 basis points next week.The data boosted global shares, with Wall Street led higher by a rally in tech stocks which saw the Nasdaq rise above the 20,000-point level for the first time. The S&P500 also rose while the Dow ended flat.Tesla shares climbed to a record high as the EV maker extended a rally in the wake of the U.S. presidential election. Nvidia and other megacap growth stocks, including Alphabet and Amazon were also trading higher.Pharmacy benefit managers, including Cigna, CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group, fell after legislators introduced a bill that would force health insurers to divest their pharmacy businesses.Macy's fell after the department-store chain cut its annual profit forecast. GameStop gained after the videogame retailer reported a profit for the third quarter amid a cost-saving strategy.In currencies, the US dollar index rose 0.2%, while the Aussie has weakened further at 63.7.

Locally today, the November labour force survey is expected to show moderate employment growth alongside a slight tick-up in the unemployment rate. Gold producer St Barbara is hosting its AGM and Platinum Asset Management is trading ex-dividend.