The Australian sharemarket is expected to snap a four-day winning streak by opening lower on Friday after Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving Day public holiday.
Although it does not mean the last day of the week lives up to its Black Friday title for its global retail sales, the ASX 200 index should fall about 0.3% when trading begins at 10:00 am AEDT (11:00 pm GMT Thursday).
This is according to futures pricing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), which at the time of writing quoted the December share price index 29 points below the previous settlement at 8,600 points.
It was also despite positive signs from Europe, where the STOXX 600 index that tracks the prices of companies across the continent rose 0.2% as higher prices for defence and technology companies helped offset losses in healthcare stocks.
“It's been tricky if you want to go fully invested from cash,” Burrell Stockbroking wealth adviser Adam Dight said.
“For me it’s been a case of just getting money into the market quietly and doing it in about four or five tranches.”
He expected the market to “grind higher” over the balance of 2025.
“I think everyone just takes a chill pill and goes well ‘things aren't that stupid’. I think it's bit easier to identify a stupid overly-enthusiastic market. And we're not in one. I don't think the serious money is actually selling,” Dight said.
The Australian sharemarket closed a little stronger on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 marking its fourth straight up session by gaining just 0.1% to 8,617.3 as nine of the 11 sectors finished in the black.
In the bond markets, yields on Australian Government bonds fell, with two-year rates off by 0.08% to 3.809% and 10-year rates losing 0.04% to 4.5129%.
