Investors face a sixth successive day of losses in the Australian sharemarket on Tuesday if expectations about the start of trading are any guide.
A 0.7% fall in the ASX 200 index has been flagged by futures trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) as the performance disconnect from the United States market is amplified.
The fact that two of the three main Wall Street benchmarks finished higher overnight appeared to have little impact on the outlook for the ASX, with the June futures contract priced 61 points under the previous settlement at 8,720 points at the time of writing.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index reached new peaks on Monday (Tuesday AEST) in a week replete with earnings reports, economic data, an interest rate decision, all set against the backdrop of continuing Middle East tensions.
Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 0.1%, the S&P 500 added 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.2% as investors awaited quarterly results from technology giants Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Apple.
"The market is just trying to deal with the rally that's been going on and digest the latest all-time highs that we've made on the indices,” Dakota Wealth senior portfolio manager Robert Pavlik was quoted as saying in a Reuters article.
The Australian market fell for a fifth straight session on Monday with the ASX 200 ending 0.2% lower on 8,766.4 points in dealings affected by public holidays in New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.
The ASX 200 has fallen 2.04% over the last five days while the three U.S. benchmarks have risen by between 0.91% (Dow Jones) and 1.74% (Nasdaq).
Turning to bond markets, yields fell on Australian Government securities with two-year rates down 0.49% to 4.703% and 10-year rates losing 0.12% to 5.022% at the time of writing.
