Australian shares set to dip as Wall Street wavers

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open lower after choppy trading on Wall Street, where investors braced for key inflation data to gauge the US Federal Reserve's likely path of monetary policy this year.

The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:

• ASX futures: down 8 points or 0.1% at 8,200 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.06%, S&P 500 down 0.10%, Nasdaq down 0.38%
• Europe: FTSE 100 down 0.28%, CAC 40 up 0.20%, DAX up 0.69%
• Spot gold: up 0.42% to USD2,674.30 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 1.25% to USD80/barrel, US WTI down 1.60% to USD77.56/bbl
• AUD: up 0.21% at 61.90 US cents
• Bitcoin: up 2.25% to USD96,606.60

The context: US stocks received an initial lift after a Labor Department report showed the producer price index rose less than expected in December, but the early gains evaporated as investors await the consumer price index reading on Thursday AEDT.

Adding to investor caution, US Treasury yields remained at elevated levels, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 4.797%, holding near a 14-month high. Quarterly earnings also get under way this week with results from big banks, which are expected to post stronger profits.