Australian shares seen lower on risk-off sentiment
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is poised to start lower after major Wall Street indices ended lower on Friday amid cautious investor sentiment and rising tensions in the Middle East.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index eked out gains of 0.12%, but the broader S&P 500 dropped 0.5% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 1.23% after a preliminary reading on US consumer sentiment showed a sharp fall in October. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were trading 30 points or 0.42% lower at 7045 points at 0700 AEDT on Monday.
The context: The decline on Wall Street came as deteriorating consumer sentiment data and the Middle East conflict soured investors on riskier bets and overshadowed upbeat quarterly earnings from some of the largest US banks. Investors were also braced for an escalation of tensions in the Middle East as Israel prepares for ground operations in Gaza. In the local market, traders will be looking for direction from a raft of RBA speeches and reports this week.
The source: Reuters
