Australian shares set to track losses on Wall Street

The news: The Australian sharemarket is poised to trade lower, tracking sharp losses for the major US indices overnight after better-than-expected US retail data dampened hopes for early rate cuts.

The numbers: The Dow Jones index was down 0.48% after dropping to a near one-month low, while the broader S&P 500 lost 0.91% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 1.16%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were trading 36 points or 0.49% lower at 7317 points at 7:00am AEDT on Thursday.

The context: Stocks fell on Wall Street after upbeat December US retail sales data eroded expectations the Federal Reserve will kick off its rate-cut campaign as early as March. Discounts from retailers and increased motor-vehicle purchases supported a higher-than-expected 0.6% rise in retail sales, keeping the US economy on a solid footing in 2024 and reinforcing the view that the Fed may not cut rates as quickly as previously expected. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to over 4.1% - its highest this year - while the CBOE Market Volatility Index, a market fear gauge, rose to an over two-month high. In the local market, investors will be focused on unemployment data for December to gauge the strength of the economy.