Investing.com - The Australian stock market is set to open with an upward trend. This comes as US shares experienced an uplift overnight, largely driven by recent data that met expectations and the anticipation of an upcoming policy decision.
By 9am AEDT (10:00 pm GMT) ASX 200 Futures were up by 36.5 points or 0.5%, suggesting a strong start to the trading day.
In the US tech sector, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) saw an uptick after a California jury ruled that the company’s AutoPilot technology was not responsible for a fatal accident involving one driver and two passengers. Meanwhile, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), after an initial 5% drop, managed to recover most of its losses following a report by the Wall Street Journal that the company might miss up to $US5 billion of orders from Chinese firms due to new US export restrictions.
BHP (ASX:BHP) is set to host its annual meeting at 10am in Adelaide.
In international relations, US President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November, as confirmed by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
In the spotlight today are Amcor and Janus Henderson who are set to release their earnings results. Several companies including BHP, Charter Hall Retail Reit (ASX:CQR), Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW), Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ), Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1), Sims Metal Management Ltd (ASX:SGM) and Vicinity Centres Re Ltd (ASX:VCX) are also scheduled to host their AGMs.
The primary focus of the market remains on the pending policy decision from the US Federal Reserve. The policymakers are anticipated to maintain steady interest rates at the end of their meeting, with a statement expected at 5am on Thursday AEDT. Chairman Jerome Powell will follow up with a press conference starting half an hour later.
Continuing to reverse last week’s surge, market volatility is on a downward trend with the VIX having dropped nearly 17% in the last two sessions in Chicago.
In the US, the employment cost index, a broad indicator of wages and benefits, saw a 1.1% increase in the July-to-September period, following a 1% rise in the second quarter. Meanwhile, US consumer confidence fell to a five-month low in October.
Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS) shares rose by 18.6% as the image-sharing platform exceeded third-quarter revenue and profit estimates.
Today, the local agenda includes CoreLogic dwelling prices for October and building approvals for September. Overseas data to watch out for include NZ third-quarter employment, China Caixin manufacturing PMI for October, and US ADP employment for October.