Shares in Australia are likely to open lower on Tuesday with their subsequent direction dependent on financial results from some of Australia’s largest companies.
The major share price index is expected to start trading about 0.3% below the previous close, based on futures trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), and in the wake of a flat performance by Wall Street stocks.
At the time of writing the S&P/ASX 200 September share price index (SPI) contract was trading 23 points under than the prior settlement at 8,874 points.
The scene was set in New York on Monday (Tuesday AEST), where the main stock indices ended virtually unchanged as investors waited for more signs about the state of the United States economy from retail results and the upcoming Federal Reserve symposium.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1%, the S&P 500 edged down 0.01% and the Nasdaq Composite put on 0.03%.
BHP (ASX: BHP), CSL (ASX: CSL), Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS) and SEEK (ASX: SEK) are among the ASX-listed stocks reporting today as the profit reporting season starts to peak.
The Australian share market extended its record-setting run to three days on Monday, with the S&P/ASX 200 ending 0.2% higher at 8,959.3 as seven sectors finished higher.
In fixed interest markets, the Australian Government bond yield curve steepened as two-year rates dropped 0.6% to 3.341% and 10-year rates rose 0.07% to 4.308%.
