Share prices in Australia are set to open about 0.1% lower on Friday despite a firmer close in New York overnight.
This is the indication from Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) futures trading which priced the March contract of the ASX 200 index 13 points below the previous settlement at 8,821 points at the time of writing.
The expected weaker start by the Australian benchmark flies in the face of the first increase in major United Stocks indexes in three days after strong results from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and TSMC, which lifted U.S. chipmaker share prices.
The S&P 500 index added 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.60% and the Nasdaq Composite put on 0.35% on Thursday (Friday AEDT).
Longbow Asset Management Chief Executive Officer Jake Dollarhide said investors were still buying stocks that were undervalued compared with technology companies.
"It's been growth, tech or bust in this market. (And today) it's the banks and old-school industrials" (that are also doing well),” he was quoted in a Reuters article saying.
The Australian sharemarket had ended firmer on Thursday, led by the materials sector, with the ASX 200 up 0.5% at 8,861.70 points as six of its 11 sectors rose.
In fixed interest markets, Australian Government bond yields rose with two year rates quoted up 0.085% at 4.025% and 10 year rates off by 0.54% at 4.688%.
