The Australian sharemarket is expected to round out the year with a lower start on Wednesday ahead of a shortened trading session.
Futures trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) indicated the benchmark ASX 200 index should begin 0.06% down at 10 am AEDT (11 pm GMT).
This is based on the March share price index (SPI) contract, the most heavily traded of the SPI contracts, which last traded six points below the previous settlement at 8,701 points.
The index has risen 6.84% so far in 2025, leaving it short of the 7.5% increase in 2024, having fallen over the last five days and delivering lower returns than those on Wall Street.
Shares in the United States closed slightly lower on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) in choppy trading as gains in communication services stocks were offset by declines in technology and financial stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2%, the S&P 500 lost 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite gave up 0.2%.
So far this year, the Dow has risen 13.38%, the S&P is up 16.82% and the Nasdaq has gained 20.69%.
Large technology stocks like Nvidia and Apple eased for a second successive day after rising for six sessions.
"The growth rates are going to converge between technology and everything else next year, and the valuation gap is so wide, it absolutely is justified to see repositioning," Nationwide Chief Market Strategist Mark Hackett was quoted as saying in a Reuters story.
The Australian market extended losses for a third consecutive session on Tuesday as weaker mining stocks offset energy company strength, with the S&P/ASX 200 ending 8.6 points lower at 8,717.1.
In fixed interest markets, Australian Government bond yields continue to rise, with two-year rates lifting by 0.17% to 4.064% and 10-year rates adding 0.19% to 4.764%.
