Australian share prices are set to retreat for their fourth consecutive day despite a better night on Wall Street as the company reporting season hits its peak.
Futures trading indicated the S&P/ASX 200 index would open lower with the March share price index (SPI) contract quoted 38 points (0.05%) lower than the previous settlement at 8,384.00 at 9.35am AEDT (10.35pm GMT).
In the United States the main indices finished marginally higher on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 adding 0.2% each and the Nasdaq Composite 0.1%.
Investors on Wall Street shrugged after concerns about President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat, which was a 25% impost on imported automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
The Australian share market barometer fell 0.7% to close at 8,419.2 on Wednesday as six of the 11 sectors finishing in the red.
Today is one of biggest days of the Australian company reporting season with results from ANZ, Brambles, Fortescue, Rio Tinto, Super Retail, Tabcorp, Telstra, Transurban, Wesfarmers and Whitehaven Coal, according to CommSec.
At 11.30am AEDT the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release January labour force data, which is something the Reserve Bank of Australia looks at in considering future monetary policy.
On the fixed income markets, Australian Treasury 10-year bond yields rose 0.09% to 4.518% and two-year rates were flat at 3.914%.
