Australian shares set to rise after Wall Street lift

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher after Wall Street's main indices climbed, bolstered by news of Scott Bessent's nomination as US Treasury secretary.

The numbers: Updated at 7:25am AEDT:

• ASX futures: up 27 points or 0.32% at 8,480 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.92%, S&P 500 up 0.17%, Nasdaq up 0.10%
• Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.36%, CAC 40 up 0.03%, DAX up 0.43%
• Spot gold: down 3.31% to USD2,626.31 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 2.75% to USD73.10/barrel, US WTI down 3.06% to USD69.06/bbl
• AUD: down 0.57% at 65.03 US cents
• Bitcoin: down 2.76% to USD95,266.25

The context: Bessent's nomination by US President-elect Donald Trump helped push bond yields lower on hopes he could take measures to restrain further government borrowing, even while following through on fiscal and trade campaign pledges. Meanwhile, investors are focused on the Personal Consumption Expenditure report, the US central bank's preferred inflation gauge, later this week.

What to Watch: Annual general meetings from Regis Healthcare, Ramsay Healthcare, Brickworks and Pilbara Minerals among others.