Australian shares seen flat despite Wall Street dip
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is expected to start trading flat after the Easter long weekend barely changed despite a dip on Wall Street overnight.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index fell 0.64% and the broader S&P 500 lost 0.21% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.09%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were flat at 7,951 points at 7:00am AEDT on Tuesday.
The context: US stocks edged lower overnight, dragged down by investor worries over the timing of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve after stronger-than-expected manufacturing data pushed Treasury yields higher.
Manufacturing PMI increased to 50.3 last month from 47.8 in February, the highest since September 2022. The new data suggested the manufacturing sector, which has been battered by higher interest rates, was recovering. It led to benchmark 10-year and two-year Treasury yields jumping to two-week highs.
The market is now pricing in a 58% chance of a rate cut in June, down from nearly 70% a week ago, according to the CME's FedWatch tool.
In the local market, investors will be focused on the release of the latest monetary policy minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia, as well as a speech by RBA assistant governor Chris Kent.
The source: Reuters
