The Australian sharemarket is expected to open lower on Wednesday after United States technology stocks came under renewed pressure overnight as bond yields climbed and uncertainty surrounding the Middle East weighed on investor sentiment.
S&P/ASX 200 futures were down 24 points, or 0.3%, at 8,976.
On Wall Street overnight, major benchmark indexes closed lower, with technology stocks leading declines amid rising Treasury yields and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 116.4 points, or 0.2%, to 53,343.4. The S&P 500 declined 53.3 points, or 0.7%, to 7,691.8, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 355.2 points, or 1.3%, to 26,289.7.
"There's nothing that can crack a momentum rally quite like interest rates moving higher and you're getting evidence of that today," Tony Welch, chief investment officer at SignatureFD was quoted as saying in a Reuters story, adding that rising yields suggested that Federal Reserve policy is too easy for the growth and inflation outlook.
The Australian sharemarket finished Tuesday's session little changed as investors assessed a fresh batch of local earnings results.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 3.2 points, or 0.04%, to 9,070.0, with six of the 11 sectors ending lower.
Wednesday's reporting calendar includes Breville, BWP Trust, Evolution Mining, Fletcher Building, Healius, Mirvac, Stockland, Superloop, Santos, The Lottery Corporation, Whitehaven Coal and Yancoal Australia.
Australia's second-quarter wage data will also be released at 11.30 am AEST, providing further insight into domestic inflationary pressures and the outlook for interest rates.
On the bond markets, Australian 10-year rates were down 0.1% at 5.047%, while two-year rates declined 1.1% to 4.611%.
