Australian shares to start higher after gains on Wall Street

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to rise in early trading after a strong session on Wall Street prompted by solid corporate earnings and upbeat forecasts.

The numbers: The Dow Jones index rose 0.62%, while the broader S&P 500 ended 0.73% higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.93%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were trading 24 points or 0.35% higher at 6890 points at 0700 AEDT on Wednesday.

The context: US stock indexes advanced thanks to interest rate sensitive mega-caps providing much of the upside lift as benchmark Treasury yields held steady, comfortably below their recent spike to 5%. Strong earnings reports from Verizon, General Electric, Coca Cola and 3M also helped stoke investor risk appetite. In the local market, though, risk sentiment will be low ahead of third-quarter inflation data scheduled to be released at 11.30am.