The Australian share market is set for a subdued opening today, with ASX futures down by 0.3% to 7,823.
Need for patience
Statements from Federal Reserve officials, including Susan Collins and John Williams, pointed to a cautious stance on monetary policy adjustments and emphasised the need for patience amid ongoing disinflation uncertainties.
US sharemarkets ended mostly higher yesterday, with technology stocks leading the charge, as Wall Street's attention turned to the upcoming earnings season.
Substantial gains were made by Nvidia, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) also rising significantly following news of its MacBook line overhaul.
It wasn’t all fun and games though, with financial shares facing a downturn and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:NYSE:MS) notably declining due to regulatory scrutiny.
The Dow Jones index slightly dipped, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices saw notable gains.
US producer price index (PPI) data indicated a continued inflation slowdown, with bond yields showing mixed reactions.
European markets were mostly in the red, impacted by the banking sector after the European Central Bank (ECB) maintained steady interest rates with signals of potential rate cuts. The FTSEurofirst 300 and the UK FTSE 100 indices both registered losses.
Currencies and commodities
The greenback strengthened against major currencies, while oil prices fell amid inflation and geopolitical concerns, though crude stayed near six-month highs on concerns that Iran might attack Israeli interests.
The Aussie dollar fell from 65.52 US cents to 65.09 US cents and was near 65.35 US cents at the US close of play.
Brent crude slipped by 74 US cents or 0.8% to US$89.74 a barrel, while US Nymex crude fell US$1.19 or 1.4% to US$85.02 a barrel.
Base metal prices were mixed yesterday. Copper futures fell by 0.7% on weak consumer inflation data in China and a firm US dollar, but aluminium futures edged up 0.1%.
Investor focus has now shifted to corporate earnings, with significant releases expected from BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), and Citigroup.
According to George Ball, chairman of Sanders Morris, corporate earnings are anticipated to be a major market driver, showing resilience despite the high-interest rate environment.
In the global context, markets are also awaiting data releases from New Zealand, Japan, and the UK, which, along with the US corporate earnings reports, will likely influence market dynamics in the coming days.
Market snapshot
- ASX 200 futures: -0.3% to 7,820 points
- Australian dollar: Flat at 65.38 US cents
- S&P 500: +0.7% to 5,199 points
- Nasdaq: +1.7% to 16,442 points
- FTSE: -0.5% to 7,923 points
- EuroStoxx: -0.4% to 504 points
- Spot gold: +1.7% to $US2,373/ounce
- Brent crude: -0.3% to $US90.23/barrel
- Iron ore: +1.6% to $US108.35/tonne
- Bitcoin: -0.5% to $US70,147
Source: ABC