Australian share prices are expected to rise when trading resumes on Monday, but trade talks will be the key driver.
Despite stocks closing mostly lower on Friday in New York, the benchmark Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) index was set for a 0.2% increase at 10 am AEST (12 pm GMT Sunday), according to futures trading.
No details were provided when the United States and China wrapped up two days of discussions on Sunday (Monday AEST) in Geneva. However, hopes were high for a breakthrough on tariffs ahead of a joint statement that China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said would contain "good news for the world".
Futures trading indicated the S&P/ASX 200 June share price index contract would begin 16 points (0.19%) higher at 8,265 points.
This was despite U.S. indices ending flat to lower on Friday (Saturday AEST) as investors waited for the tariff discussions, the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.3%, the S&P 500 dropping 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite remaining unchanged.
The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Friday with the S&P/ASX 200 gaining 0.5% to 8,231.2 as nine of the index’s 11 sectors ended higher.
The trade talks ended positively with U.S. officials referring to a "deal" to reduce the U.S. trade deficit and Chinese officials talking about an "important consensus" reached, according to a Reuters report.
On the ASX, companies to watch include Waypoint REIT (ASX: WPR), which holds its Annual General Meeting, Dyno Nobel (ASX: DNL), which has announced its results, and National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB), which trades ex-dividend.
On fixed interest markets, Australian Government bond yields rose with 10-year rates adding 0.7% to 4.325% and two-year rates rising by 1.43% to 3.413%.
