Australian shares seen choppy after Wall Street edges higher
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is expected to be choppy after Wall Street’s major indices edged higher with investors awaiting more US labour data.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index ended 0.09% higher, while the broader S&P 500 gained 0.01% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 0.08%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were up just 3 points or 0.04% at 8,253 points at 7am AEST on Thursday.
The context: The major US stock indices ended little changed with nervous investors monitoring Middle East tensions after Israel and the US vowed to strike back following Iran's attack on Israel on Tuesday.
Fresh data showed US private payrolls increased more than expected in September, further evidence that the labour market is not deteriorating. Investors remain focused on September non-farm payrolls data due on Friday, while US jobless claims data is due later on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the odds of a quarter-percentage-point rate reduction at the Fed's November meeting rose to 65.7%, up from 42.6% a week ago, the CME Group's FedWatch Tool showed.
The source: Reuters
