Australian shares to start ahead despite Wall Street losses
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to start ahead after major indices on Wall Street gave up gains to finish modestly lower amid a focus on company earnings.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index ended 0.14% lower while the broader S&P 500 lost 0.16% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.06%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were up 11 points or 0.14% at 7,952 points at 7:00am AEST on Wednesday.
The context: US stocks ended slightly lower after giving up intraday gains in the final minutes of trading, as investors switched their focus to the latest earnings from Alphabet and Tesla.
The duo kicked off results from the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks after the market closed, with both recording positive revenue numbers for the second quarter.
Earnings from technology giants will be key in determining if 2024's record rally can be sustained, or if US stocks are overvalued. The question of whether a rotation away from mega caps in favour of underperforming sectors will continue is also on investors' minds.
Helping subdue equity markets were disappointing earnings from household names, including United Parcel Service, General Motors and Comcast.
What they said: "We're paying attention to earnings, as that's what matters this week and next, and the price reaction to those earnings will be very telling," Jack Janasiewicz, lead portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers told Reuters.
The source: Reuters
