ASX to rise as Govt holds urgent supply chain talks

Good morning.

ASX: The local market is expected to get a boost at the open after Wall Street rallied overnight.

This comes after surging coronavirus infections took a toll on the ASX as supermarkets and chicken suppliers were among shares that took a beating.

Wall Street: US indexes advanced on Tuesday as investors weighed testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The Nasdaq rallied for the second consecutive session to recoup earlier losses, while the S&P and Dow also clawed back from morning drops, building on a comeback that began late on Monday.

Inflation concerns: Powell told Congress on Tuesday that if the pace of price increases did not ease, the US central bank would get more aggressive with raising interest rates.

Powell is facing the Senate for his renomination. US President Joe Biden has indicated that he will be tapping Powell for a second term.

BTC: Bitcoin has risen overnight appearing to get support around the US$40,000 mark. However the cryptocurrency is still facing resistance around the US$45,000 mark.

Urgent talks: Talks between federal ministers and industry took place overnight and will pick up again today to help address coronavirus-induced staff shortages.

Supply chains of essential services have been severely impacted by the outbreak, with thousands of people isolating after having contracted the virus or being designated a close contact.

Data drop: New figures are expected to show the economy ended 2021 with a flourish after being bogged down by COVID-19 lockdowns during the September quarter.

However, more recent data suggests the outbreak of the highly infectious Omicron variant has cast a cloud over the immediate outlook.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its quarterly job vacancies survey today for the three months to November.

World Bank warning: The World Bank has cut its forecasts for economic growth in the United States, the Euro area and China and warned that high debt levels, rising income inequality and new coronavirus variants threatened the recovery in developing economies.

Funding promise: The Labor Government has pledged to spend $200 million a year on natural disaster prevention and readiness, should it win the next election.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said a Disaster Ready Fund would be established to help finance disaster-prevention projects such as flood levees, evacuation shelters, fire breaks and improving telecommunications.

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