Australian shares to start lower as rate concerns weigh on Wall Street

The news: The Australian sharemarket is poised to start lower after fresh concerns on the path of interest rates weighed on sentiment on Wall Street.

The numbers: The Dow Jones index closed 0.17% higher while the broader S&P 500 lost 0.21% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.12%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were down 23 points or 0.3% to 7612 points at 0700 AEST on Wednesday.

The context: US stocks ended lower in choppy trading as Treasury yields climbed after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said recent inflation data has not given policymakers enough confidence to ease credit soon and noted that the US central bank may need to keep rates higher for longer than previously thought. Data on Monday showed retail sales grew more than expected in March, a sign of US economic resilience that helped push benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields to five-month highs. In the local market, investors will be focusing on the first-quarter production report from miner Rio Tinto.