Australian shares set to open lower

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open slightly lower amid a lack of overseas cues with the US markets closed and European shares ending higher ahead of election results.

The numbers: The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.6% higher, while Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 0.8%, with markets waiting for election results in the UK. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were down 14 points or 0.18% to 7,799 points at 7:00am AEST on Friday.

The context: US markets remained closed for the Independence Day public holiday.

Earlier on Thursday, European and UK shares rose amid optimism around US interest rate cuts following soft economic data, and as voting continued in the UK general election, with polls predicting a historic victory for the Labour party.

In the Australian market, trading is expected to be choppy as investors sit on the sidelines ahead of key employment data due in the US when that market reopens for trading later on Friday.