Australian shares set to fall after Wall Street losses

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open lower, following a subdued session on Wall Street on Friday as investors await the Federal Reserve's meeting this week.

The numbers: Updated at 7:25am AEDT:

• ASX futures: down 39 points or 0.47% at 8,267 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.20%, S&P 500 down 0.16%, Nasdaq up 0.12%
• Europe: FTSE 100 down 0.14%, CAC 40 down 0.15%, DAX down 0.10%
• Spot gold: down 1.21% to USD2,648.23 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent up 1.47% to USD74.49/barrel, US WTI up 1.81% to USD71.29/bbl
• AUD: up 0.03% at 63.65 US cents
• Bitcoin: up 1.75% to USD103,146.70

The context: The mixed Wall Street session comes amid concerns that incoming US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs could prompt fewer interest rate cuts from the Fed. The market is certain of a cut at the central bank's meeting on 17-18 December, but CME's FedWatch Tool indicates chances of a pause in January. On Friday, chip stocks were mixed, with Broadcom surging 24% on a better-than-expected forecast while AI bellwether Nvidia closed 2.2% lower.

What to Watch: Australian S&P Flash PMI, measuring activity levels of purchasing managers in the manufacturing and services sectors.