Australian shares to open lower after Fed holds rates steady
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open lower, tracking losses on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and gave little insight into when further cuts may take place.
The numbers: Updated at 7:25am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 13 points or 0.1% at 8,408 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.24%, S&P 500 down 0.43%, Nasdaq down 0.56%
- Europe: FTSE 100 up 0.28%, CAC 40 down 0.32%, DAX up 0.97%
- Spot gold: down 0.23% to USD2,757.23 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.94% to USD76.76/barrel, US WTI down 1.23% to USD72.86/bbl
- AUD: down 0.32% at 62.32 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 3.2% to USD104,586.80
The context: US stocks extended gains after the announcement, with the decision widely anticipated following three consecutive rate cuts in 2024 that reduced the Fed's benchmark rate by a full percentage point. However, the US central bank also dropped from its latest policy statement language saying that inflation "has made progress" towards the Fed's 2% inflation goal.
Meanwhile, investors are awaiting quarterly results from Microsoft, Facebook-parent Meta and Tesla after market close.
What to watch: Quarterly results from Mineral Resources, Sandfire Resources, Syrah Resources, Karoon Energy, IGO, Vulcan Energy Resources, Credit Corp and Zip Co.
The source: Bloomberg
