Australian shares set to start lower after Wall Street decline

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to start lower after a sell-off on Wall Street over renewed fears about the path of interest rates.

The numbers: The Dow Jones index fell 0.31% while the broader S&P 500 dropped 1.43% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 2.4%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were trading 18 points or 0.26% lower at 6842 points at 7:00am AEDT on Thursday.

The context: US stocks tumbled on a combination of Alphabet shares sliding after the Google parent posted disappointing earnings and US Treasury yields again creeping up towards 5% on expectation of a stronger US economy, reviving fears that interest rates could stay higher for longer. In the local market, traders will be carefully assessing comments by RBA Governor Michelle Bullock at Senate hearings.