Australian Shares Set for Higher Open as Wall Street Steadies After AI Rebound
Australian shares are set for a modest rise at Monday's open after Wall Street steadied on a rebound in AI stocks. Futures point to a 0.2 per cent gain, while the S&P 500 recovered part of its worst weekly loss since April 2025.
The Australian sharemarket is set for a positive start to the week on Monday, November 9, 2026, as Wall Street steadied after AI stocks bounced back from a two-day sell-off. Futures point to a rise of 22 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open.
The Australian dollar was trading lower at US68.68¢ at 5.15am AEDT.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent in the latest US session. That trimmed its loss for the week to 2.7 per cent, still its worst since President Donald Trump shook markets in April 2025 with his "Liberation Day" tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 237 points, or 0.5 per cent. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1 per cent.
AI names lead the recovery
Nvidia gave the S&P 500 its biggest lift, rising 2.8 per cent after drops of 9.3 per cent and 3.2 per cent. AI-linked stocks had tumbled on worries that Democratic gains in statehouses, particularly in Texas, could slow data centre construction. Voters across parties say they are wary of AI and dislike higher power bills caused by data centres.
Borrowing costs add to the pressure. Worries that building more AI data centres may slow because money has become expensive to borrow were already rattling the industry. Critics had also said AI share prices were in a bubble.
Political power in Washington remains split between a Democratic Congress and a White House run by Trump, a Republican who retains the power to veto. That could limit federal efforts to rein in the AI industry.
Companies in the sector still report strong growth. IREN, which delivers data centres, compute and software for AI training, beat analyst expectations for the latest quarter. Its stock jumped 20 per cent, and it announced two new contracts signed since the quarter ended.
Lam Research climbed 8.2 per cent after announcing a program to return up to $25 billion to investors through share buybacks. CoreWeave rose 6.3 per cent and Micron Technology gained 5.1 per cent.
Mixed picture beyond AI
More stocks fell than rose in the S&P 500. Axon Enterprise tumbled 18.2 per cent after the Taser maker posted weaker quarterly results than analysts expected. It also announced a $US1.2 billion ($1.8 billion) investment in drone technology company Skydio.
Charter Communications sank 6.2 per cent after reporting a quarterly loss when analysts had expected a profit.
The steadiness halted a worldwide tumble. Indexes dropped 6 per cent in Tokyo and in Seoul after the earlier US plunge, and Germany's DAX lost 1.9 per cent despite European markets having fewer AI-linked stocks.
The S&P 500 closed up 23.13 points at 7,376.86, the Dow slipped 237.33 to 51,285.73, and the Nasdaq added 264.43 to 24,579.42. Even after the week's swings, the S&P 500 sits only 5.7 per cent below its all-time high, set last month.
