The Australian sharemarket is expected to start higher on Tuesday as traders await the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest cash rate decision and governor Michele Bullock’s post-meeting remarks for direction on the economic outlook.
Futures suggest the S&P/ASX 200 will open up 16 points, or 0.2%, following a cautious session on Wall Street, where United States equities edged higher despite mounting concerns over a looming federal government shutdown.
The Trump administration has indicated it could use the disruption to implement mass public sector job cuts.
The RBA will announce its interest rate decision at 2:30 pm AEST (4:30 am GMT), with markets widely expecting no change, keeping the cash rate at 3.6%. Bullock will hold a press conference an hour later.
The ASX RBA Rate Tracker, as of September 29, showed just a 4% probability of a rate cut to 3.35%.
Globally, investor attention remains fixed on whether a U.S. shutdown will delay the release of key labour market data, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.
On the domestic front, August building approvals will be released at 11:30am.
In Asia, Japan and South Korea will publish industrial production and retail sales figures, while China is set to report both NBS and Caixin PMIs.
Later in the day, the UK will provide second-quarter GDP revisions and France will issue its September inflation data.
Corporate news is also in focus. Blood plasma leader CSL has appointed chief strategy officer Ken Lim as chief financial officer. Lim, who joined CSL in 2013, has served as CSO since August 2023.
On the bond markets, yields ticked higher, with the 10-year Treasury yield up 0.2% at 4.322% and the 2-year yield rising 0.1% to 3.496%.
