Australian shares to rise after mixed Wall Street session
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher despite a mixed session on Wall Street, where weak chip and megacap shares weighed down indices ahead of key tech earnings this week.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index ended 0.5% higher, but the broader S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.28%.
In the local market, ASX 200 futures were up 29 points or 0.37% to 7,943 points at 7:00am AEST on Wednesday.
The context: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed lower ahead of the first of the heavyweight tech earnings this week.
Microsoft, seen by many as leading the artificial intelligence race, fell more than 6% in after-hours trading after posting its quarterly results, while chipmaker Nvidia also tumbled 7%, weighing on other chip stocks. Apple, Amazon.com and Meta Platforms are all due to report earnings this week.
Small caps advanced, extending a recent rotation out of more expensive stocks as the market has solidified expectations the Federal Reserve will cut rates this year on signs of moderating inflation. The market is betting on a slight chance the Fed could cut rates by at least 25 basis points at the end of its policymaking meeting on Thursday AEST, but is fully pricing in a cut for the US central bank's September meeting.
In the local market, investors will be focused on the June quarter inflation data at 11:30am, as well as Rio Tinto’s half-year results.
The source: Reuters
