Australian shares to start lower despite Wall Street gains
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to start lower as investors remain cautious ahead of uncertainty globally despite gains on Wall Street on Friday.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index ended 0.17% higher on Friday, the broader S&P 500 gained 0.54% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.9%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were down 11 points or 0.14% at 7,797 points at 7:00am AEST on Monday.
The context: US stock indices closed higher as new data showing US labour market weakness boosted expectations for interest rate cuts as early as September.
Data showed US jobs growth slowed marginally in June, and the unemployment rate rose to an over 2.5-year high, while wage gains slowed.
Investors expect the data could stir more active debate on rate cuts when the Federal Reserve meets later this month. Odds of the US central bank easing in September jumped to 79% from 66% before the data, CME's FedWatch Tool showed.
In the local market, however, traders will look for more clarity after surprise poll results with a leftist coalition leading in France, Fed chair Jerome Powell's Congress testimony later this week, along with US June inflation data and China's consumer prices update.
The source: Reuters
