Markets 
The US stock market rallied to records as companies kept piling up profits and oil prices eased.
The S&P 500 shot up 1.8 per cent, and the main measure of Wall Street’s health topped its prior all-time high, set in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.7 per cent to its own record set the day before, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.6 per cent. Palantir Technologies and Caterpillar helped lead the way after becoming the latest companies to deliver stronger profits for the spring than expected.
The Australian sharemarket is set to rise, with futures at 6.01am AEST pointing to a gain of 35 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open. The ASX jumped 1.4 per cent to a record high yesterday. The Australian dollar is stronger at US70.47¢.
SpaceX reported a 92 per cent rise in revenue for the April-June quarter, in its first earnings since going public, buoyed by strong growth in its Starlink satellite-internet and AI businesses. Its shares are 3.3 per cent lower in after hours trade, after gaining more than 9 per cent during the Tuesday session.
Despite worries about high inflation, the war in Iran and a possible bubble in stock prices because of euphoria around the boom in artificial-intelligence technology, Wall Street is nearing its latest apex in large part because profits are soaring for companies. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate earnings over the long term.
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