Australian shares to open higher, tracking Wall Street rebound

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher after gains on Wall Street following US President Donald Trump agreeing to delay newly imposed tariffs on vehicles from Mexico and Canada by a month.

The numbers: Updated at 7.25am AEDT:

• ASX futures: up 18 points or 0.22% at 8,130 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones up 1.18%, S&P 500 up 1.39%, Nasdaq up 1.69%
• Europe: FTSE 100 down 0.04%, CAC 40 up 1.56%, DAX up 3.38%
• Spot gold: up 0.14% to USD2,922 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 2.41% to USD69.33/bbl, US WTI down 2.86% to USD66.31/bbl
• AUD: up 1.03% at 63.37 US cents
• Bitcoin: up 3.39% to USD90,240.11.

The context: All three major US stock indices gained in choppy trading as markets weighed the possible easing of trade tensions between the US and its major trading partners. Investors have been selling riskier equities on fears that Trump's trade policies would amplify inflation pressures, slow the US economy and eat into corporate profits. Earlier, an ISM report showed an unexpected rise in growth in the US services sector in February, while separate data showed private payrolls increased at the slowest pace in seven months in February.

What to watch: Local building approvals data for January and international trade in goods data for January to be released at 11.30am.