Australian shares to track higher as Wall Street awaits Trump

The news: The Australian sharemarket is set to start the week higher after Wall Street closed higher on Friday while investors brace for policy changes under the incoming Trump administration.

The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:

• ASX futures: up 28 points or 0.34% at 8,317 points
• Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.78%, S&P 500 up 1.00%, Nasdaq up 1.51%
• Europe: FTSE 100 up 1.35%, CAC 40 up 0.98%, DAX up 1.20%
• Spot gold: down 0.41% to USD2,703.25 per ounce
• Oil prices: Brent down 0.62% to USD80.79/barrel, US WTI down 1.02% to USD77.88/bbl
• AUD: up 0.03% at 61.96 US cents
• Bitcoin: up 1.46% to USD105,969.10

The context: US stocks closed higher on Friday after data last week allayed fears about rising inflation and narrowing scope for interest rate cuts, while a solid start to the corporate earnings season also helped buoy stocks.

Meanwhile, investors are faced with uncertainty over policies as President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated later on Monday (Tuesday AEDT), when US markets will be closed for the Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday.