A rally in United States stock futures raised doubts about the outlook for Australian share prices on Wednesday, after a weak night in New York indicated the direction would be down.
Futures trading pointed to a 0.4% drop on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) from where it finished on Tuesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 June share price index contract quoted 31 points lower than the previous settlement at 8,138 at the time of writing.
U.S. equity indices sank for a second straight day on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) as investors worried about global trade negotiations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1%, the S&P 500 shed 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.9%.
But U.S. futures moved in the opposite direction Tuesday night in response to company results and as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision due Wednesday afternoon (Thursday AEST).
The ASX ended all but flat on Tuesday with some sectors up and others down and the S&P/ASX 200 index ending at 8,151.40.
Stocks to keep an eye on include National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB), which reported marginal growth in half-year earnings, a day after Big Four rival Westpac (ASX: WBC) also handed down an underwhelming result.
On the fixed interest markets, Australian Government bond yields fell with 10-year rates losing 0.07% to 4.312% and two-year rates dropping by 0.33% to 3.352%.
