ASX to start lower, Nvidia and Walmart trigger Wall St rally

The news: The Australian sharemarket is poised to open lower even as Nvidia led gains on the Nasdaq overnight ahead of the release of its highly anticipated third-quarter earnings this week, and as Walmart shares jumped after the world's largest retailer raised its annual forecasts.

The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:

• ASX futures: down 14 points or 0.16% at 8,394 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.36%, S&P 500 up 0.28%, Nasdaq up 0.88%
• Europe: FTSE 100 down 0.13%, CAC 40 down 0.67%, DAX down 0.67%
• Spot gold: up 0.77% to USD2,631.94 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent up 0.14% USD73.41/barrel, US WTI up 0.64% to USD69.60/bbl
• AUD: up 0.4% at 65.31 US cents
• Bitcoin: up 2.47% to USD93,627.88

The context: Each of Wall Street's main indices opened lower after Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in a long-planned update to its nuclear doctrine. However, Nvidia led a tech rally on the Nasdaq, reclaiming its spot as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, while Walmart's rosy outlook saw its shares climb.

What to Watch: Web Travel Group releases interim results for the first half of 2025; annual shareholder meetings for Downer EDI (11am), Charter Hall (2:30pm) and Northern Star (3pm).