The Australian sharemarket is set to snap a five-day winning streak by opening lower on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street and following news the United States economy has shrunk.
The S&P/ASX 200 June share price index futures contract was quoted 24 points (0.29%) below the previous settlement at 8,118 when it last traded on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4% and the S&P 500 put on 0.2% but the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.1% in New York on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) following news the U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter.
Although this revived recession fears, prices bounced back late in the volatile session.
This sets the scene for a down day on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) which closed 0.7% higher at 8,126.2 points on Wednesday, making it five consecutive days of capital appreciation, after touching the highest level since February as inflation data lifted chances of another interest rate cut.
In the news today, Amcor (ASX: AMC) and Woolworths (ASXC: WOW) will provide quarterly updates, GPT Group (ASX: GPT), Newmont (ASX: NEM) and Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) will hold annual general meetings, and data on home prices, goods trade, manufacturing and import and export prices are scheduled to be released, according to CommSec.
On the fixed interest market, Australian Government bond yields diverged with 10-year rates rising by 0.29% to 4.123% and two-year rates falling by 0.21% to 3.263%.
