The Australian sharemarket is expected to open marginally higher on Monday after trade uncertainty undermined investor confidence in the United States.
Futures trading points to the Australian Securities Exchange’s (ASX) 200-company index starting the week 0.2% lower, in line to slightly below the extent of the falls on Wall Street on Friday (Saturday AEST).
At the time of writing the S&P/ASX 200 share price index (SPI) September contract trading was quoted 13 points below the previous settlement of 8,548.
President Donald Trump soured investor sentiment on Friday when he announced a 35% tariff on Canada and plans for tariffs of 15% or 20% on most other trading partners, sending share prices lower in New York.
He imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil and the European Union on Thursday.
"The increased rhetoric around tariffs, what we've seen this week regarding Brazil and Canada, is certainly elevating the anxiety level," Rosenblatt Securities equity sales trader Michael James was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was hit hardest, dropping 0.6%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2% lower.
The S&P index, which had reached a record high the day prior, was also not helped by Facebook parent company Meta Platforms dropping by 1.3% on worries it would face more European regulatory action after Reuters reported it was unlikely to change its pay-or-consent model.
The Australian sharemarket closed marginally lower on Friday with only the miner-heavy materials index ending in positive territory, as the S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.11% down at 8,580.10.
In Australian fixed interest markets, Australian Government bond rate yields rose with 10-year rates adding just 0.02% to 4.363% and two-year rates gaining 0.53% to 3.417%.
