Australian shares seen flat after mixed Wall Street session

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open barely changed after a mixed session on Wall Street where investors await the Federal Reserve's final policy meeting of the year.

The numbers: Updated at 7:25am AEDT:

• ASX futures: down 5 points or 0.06% at 8,253 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.04%, S&P 500 up 0.51%, Nasdaq up 1.23%
• Europe: FTSE 100 down 0.46%, CAC 40 down 0.71%, DAX down 0.45%
• Spot gold: up 0.18% to USD2,652.90 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 0.94% to USD73.79/barrel, US WTI down 1.0% to USD70.58/bbl
• AUD: up 0.26% at 63.69 US cents
• Bitcoin: up 1.8% to USD106,217.90

The context: Data showed US factory production hit its lowest level since May 2020, while S&P Global said its flash manufacturing PMI for the US dropped to 48.3 this month, lower than expected. Markets have almost completely priced in a 25 basis point rate cut at the conclusion of the Fed's two-day policy meeting on Thursday AEDT, but traders are wary about the path for interest rates next year.

What to Watch: Annual general meeting for chemicals and explosives maker Orica; and fourth quarter reading for The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index.