Australian shares set to slip as Wall Street eases

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open lower following a decline on Wall Street, where technology stocks eased as investors await key jobs data, while Bitcoin also slipped back below $100,000.

The numbers: Updated at 7:25am AEDT:

• ASX futures: down 17 points or 0.2% at 8,472 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.39%, S&P 500 down 0.07%, Nasdaq down 0.01%.
• Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.16%, CAC 40 up 0.37%, DAX up 0.63%
• Spot gold: down 0.81% to USD2,628.37 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 0.04% to USD72.28/barrel, US WTI unchanged at USD68.54/bbl
• AUD: up 0.33% at 64.53 US cents
• Bitcoin: down 0.43% to USD98,444.17.

The context: Data earlier in the day showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, while Friday's employment report is expected to show nonfarm payrolls increased by 200,000 jobs in November. On Thursday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell appeared to signal support for a slower pace of reductions citing a stronger than expected US economy, but markets are still pricing in about a 70% chance of a 25-basis points rate cut this month.

What to Watch: TPG Telecom-spin off Tuas holds its annual general meeting.