RBA meeting, Wall Street drop to weigh on Australian shares
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The news: The Australian sharemarket is poised to start lower as traders adopt a cautious stance ahead of the Reserve Bank’s rate decision and after Wall Street stumbled on Friday.
The numbers: The Dow Jones index ended 0.49% lower, the broader S&P 500 lost 0.65% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.96%. In the local market, ASX 200 futures were down 13 points or 0.17% at 7659 points at 7:00am AEDT on Monday.
The context: The RBA’s two-day policy meeting starting on Monday is likely to be the key factor weighing on market sentiment. While the central bank is widely expected to leave rates on hold, traders will be keen to hear fresh commentary from governor Michele Bullock, who has continued to stress the possibility of further rate rises.
Also weighing on sentiment are other central bank meetings this week, including those of the US Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Bank of England.
On Friday, US stocks ended lower, dragged by technology-related megacaps that have propelled this year's rally, while investors weighed the interest rate outlook ahead. The market has reined in bets of a June rate cut by the Fed after last week's hotter-than-expected US inflation data.
The source: Reuters
