Prices on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) are expected to open about 0.2% lower on Thursday as the local bourse tracks the performance of stocks in New York overnight.
ASX futures trading quoted the December contract of the S&P/ASX 200 share price index 15 points below the previous settlement at 9,020 points, at the time of writing.
This followed a weaker finish on Wall Street on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), where corporate earnings reports were mixed and after the United States threatened to curb exports to China made with U.S. software.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9%.
U.S. Bank Wealth Management national investment strategist Tom Hainlin said the Washington-Beijing trade dispute was ongoing, and some technology companies reported disappointing numbers.
"But it’s been a pretty good earnings season, and (stocks are) not that far off all-time highs," Hainlin was quoted saying in a Reuters article.
"We wouldn’t tell investors to change their allocations based on a day like today."
The S&P/ASX 200 index had dropped 0.71% on Wednesday from previous record highs due to a big sell-off in gold.
News today includes the publication of the Reserve Bank (RBA) Bulletin and quarterly updates from Fortescue (ASX: FMG) and Brambles (ASX: BXB).
The Australian Government bond yields fell across the curve as two-year rates dipped 0.15% to 3.337% and 10-year rates lost 0.27% to 4.114%, at the time of writing.