The Australian share market is expected to slip at Wednesday's open, following a mixed performance on Wall Street where the Dow slipped while the S&P 500 eked out a fresh record close.
By 8 am AEDT (9 pm GMT) ASX futures were down 30 points, or 0.4%, indicating a cautious start to Wednesday’s session.
In the U.S., the Nasdaq and S&P 500 posted modest gains but remained within a narrow range, reflecting subdued momentum after the S&P 500 achieved its 54th record-closing high in the previous session.
In South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, triggering concerns over political stability and unrest. However, hours later, South Korea’s parliament voted to overturn the decree, prompting the president to withdraw it.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin experienced sharp volatility, briefly dropping to US$93,600 (A$144,389) before recovering to trade above $95,000.
Economic data from the U.S. showed job openings increased to 7.74 million in October, surpassing economists’ forecasts of 7.48 million.
Domestically, market participants will focus on Australia’s quarterly GDP figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Judo Bank services PMI, both due for release today.
In bond markets, local rates remained stable, with the 10-year and 2-year notes yielding 4.33% and 3.983%, respectively.