Australian shares to open higher after Wall Street ends flat

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher after major indices on Wall Street ended barely changed as investors focused on the direction of Treasury yields.

The numbers: The Dow Jones index ended 0.11% lower, but the broader S&P 500 gained 0.11%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged up 0.08%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were trading 28 points or 0.4% higher at 7030 points at 0800 AEDT on Thursday.

The context: Investors weighed US Federal Reserve officials' recent comments for signals on the path of interest rates and focused on the direction of Treasury yields, which have retreated sharply since late October, on growing expectations the central bank had reached the end of its rate-hike cycle. That drop has helped fuel a stock rally that sent the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to their longest streak of gains in two years. In the local market, investors will be focused on full-year results from major bank NAB.