Australian share prices are expected to ease from a record high when trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) opens on Tuesday ahead of an expected interest rate cut and following a weaker night on Wall Street.
ASX futures trading indicates the S&P/ASX 200 index will begin about 0.1% lower as investors await a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announcement at 2:30pm AEST (4:30am GMT) which is widely expected to be a 25 basis point cut to 3.60%.
At the time of writing the S&P/ASX 200 September share price index (SPI) contract was trading 13 points below the previous settlement at 8,783 points.
The major stock indexes in New York ended down on Monday as investors waited for U.S. inflation data and monitored U.S.-China trade developments, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.5% and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each losing 0.3%.
"The inflation data is starting to embody the more direct tariff impacts on the consumer, raising concern that inflation will remain sticky," Comerica Wealth Management Chief Investment Officer Eric Teal was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
"Lower inflationary readings and slower growth numbers are needed to support the case for lower rates."
As the Australian corporate reporting season continues, results are scheduled from Life360 (ASX: 360), SGH (ASX: SGH), Seven West Media (ASX: SWM), St Barbara Chrysos (ASX: SBM), Kelly Partners (ASX: KPG) and LGI (ASX: LGI).
Burrell Stockbroking wealth adviser Adam Dight said there was interest was high in Life360, the company that produces a location tracking and safety app, now that it had entered the S&P/ASX 100 Index.
“There’s a lot of eyes on that one,” Dight said.
He said another positive factor on the ASX was the “fantastic” U.S. profit reporting season, which showed investors were looking beyond uncertainty created by President Donald Trump’s trade announcements.
The Australian market had closed at a record high on Monday with the S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.4% to 8,844.8.
The Australian Government bond yield curve steepened as two-year rates dropped 0.36% to 3.362% and 10-year rates rose 0.05% to 4.44%.
