Australian shares set to drop amid Wall Street weakness

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open sharply lower, taking the lead from declines on Wall Street where a dip in manufacturing data and worries about US President Donald Trump’s tariff decisions weighed on sentiment.

The numbers: Updated at 7.25am AEDT:

• ASX futures: down 105 points or 1.28% at 8,120 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones down 1.71%, S&P 500 down 1.72%, Nasdaq down 2.36%
• Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.70%, CAC 40 up 1.09%, DAX up 2.64%
• Spot gold: up 0.89% to USD2,883.16 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 2.02% to USD71.34/bbl, US WTI down 2.16% to USD68.25/bbl
• AUD: down 0.13% at 62.08 US cents
• Bitcoin: down 8.74% to USD86,083.41.

The context: All three major US stock indices were trading lower after an ISM survey showed US manufacturing PMI slipped in January and the forward-looking new orders index contracted in February as Trump ratcheted up tariffs on imported goods. The US President confirmed tariffs would start on Canada, Mexico and China later on Tuesday. Energy and technology sectors led declines among the S&P 500's 11 sectors, with most megacap growth sectors trading down.

What to watch: Reserve Bank of Australia minutes from its February monetary policy meeting; and monthly Retail Trade data for January.