Australian shares to drift higher after mixed Wall Street session

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to edge higher in early trading with local investors cautious after a mixed session on Wall Street on Friday.

The numbers: The Dow Jones index closed 0.77% lower and the broader S&P 500 lost 0.14% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.16%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were up 7 points or 0.09% at 7829 points at 7:00am AEDT on Monday.

The context: While US shares ended mixed for the day, all three major US stock indices registered their biggest weekly gains in months after the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged earlier in the week but signaled it was still on track for three rate cuts this year. Traders now see about a 71% chance of the first rate cut hitting in June versus 56% at the start of this week, according to the CME's FedWatch Tool.

In the local market, investors will be keeping an eye on retail sales data for February amid a shortened trading week.