Australian shares to slip after losses on Wall Street

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open lower after Wall Street’s main indices fell in choppy trading amid mixed corporate earnings and ahead of key jobs data.

The numbers: Updated at 7:25am AEDT:

• ASX futures: down 26 points or 0.31% at 8,458 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.48%, S&P 500 down 0.06%, Nasdaq down 0.05%
• Europe: FTSE 100 up 1.21%, CAC 40 up 1.47%, DAX up 1.47%
• Spot gold: down 0.44% to USD2,854.72 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 0.54% to USD74.21/barrel, US WTI down 0.76% to USD70.49/bbl
• AUD: up 0.04% at 62.82 US cents
• Bitcoin: down 0.04% to USD96,586.37

The context: All three main US indices were trading lower as investors await the January nonfarm payrolls report later on Friday as well as any trade policy moves. Traders do not expect the Federal Reserve to make a move on interest rates in its next meeting in March, but a cut is widely anticipated in June, according to the CME's FedWatch. Amazon.com shares were also up 0.7% ahead of its quarterly earnings report, due after the closing bell.

What to watch: Half-year results from furniture retailer Nick Scali and property investment trust Charter Hall Long Wale REIT, among others.