Investing.com - Australian shares were little changed on Tuesday, following overnight gains in New York. The S&P 500 briefly set a new record high in morning trade, with Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) initiating remarkable surges to kick off 2024 before experiencing a slight withdrawal. Bitcoin, on its part, momentarily surpassed the $US50,000 mark.
The early market surge was fueled by a survey from the New York Fed, revealing that medium-term consumer inflation expectations have decreased to their lowest point since 2013. This revelation comes just a day before the release of January’s CPI data, which is predicted to indicate a further deceleration in price increases, strengthening the case for an upcoming shift towards rate cuts.
The Nasdaq Composite also touched a record high before pulling back due to selling pressure on the mega-cap tech stocks. Nvidia momentarily overtook Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) as the US company with the fourth-largest market cap. Nvidia's stock has seen an almost 50% increase this year, and the company is set to report its latest quarterly results next week.
Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) continued its upward trajectory, soaring more than 40% and nearly doubling over the last three trading sessions. The company's impressive quarterly results signal that it is well-positioned to utilize the AI boom. Other tech companies, such as Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), also experienced significant gains.
Locally, ASX 200 Futures rose by 20 points or 0.3% to 7584 near 8am AEDT. The Australian dollar experienced a slight increase, while Bitcoin saw a 4.6% rise to $US50,219 as of 8.25am AEDT. Iron ore prices also saw a 1.2% increase to $US128.10 a tonne.