Australian shares to start lower despite Wall Street gains

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to open lower even as Wall Street’s main indices rose, with the benchmark S&P 500 hitting a record high.

The numbers: Updated at 7:25am AEDT:

• ASX futures: down 22 points or 0.26% at 8,390 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.37%, S&P 500 up 0.74%, Nasdaq up 1.29%
• Europe: FTSE 100 down 0.04%, CAC 40 up 0.86%, DAX up 1.01%
• Spot gold: up 0.40% to USD2,755.85 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 0.35% to USD79.01/barrel, US WTI down 0.45% to USD75.49/bbl
• AUD: up 0.06% at 62.78 US cents
• Bitcoin: down 1.63% to USD104,499.40

The context: US stocks gained as investors cheered streaming giant Netflix's stellar quarterly report while technology shares rallied after the announcement of a private-sector artificial intelligence infrastructure plan. Investors are still waiting cautiously for Trump's trade plans due to inflation concerns after he warned that tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union could be issued on 1 February.

What to watch: Quarterly reports from Alcoa, Fortescue Metals, Regis Resources, Santos, Karoon Energy, Coronado Global Resources, Netwealth and Insignia Financial; and Myer and Premier shareholders will vote on the proposed acquisition of Premier’s fashion brands.