Australian shares set to drop after Wall Street tumble
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to track declines on Wall Street amid a spike in US Treasury yields and concerns about rising geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index closed 0.65% lower while the broader S&P 500 lost 1.20% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.79%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were down 63 points or 0.81% to 7725 points at 7:00am AEST on Tuesday.
The context: US markets initially rose after data showed retail sales increased by more than expected in March and amid strong earnings from some US banks. But gains faded over concerns the hostilities between Israel and Iran could continue to flare, and benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields jumped to their highest level since November. In the local market, investors will be focusing on the first quarter production report from miner Rio Tinto, as well as eyeing industrial production and GDP data from China at mid-day.
The source: Reuters
