Share prices on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) are set to open lower on Friday following a weaker close on Wall Street.
United States stocks finished down on Thursday (Friday AEST) as the market gave away earlier gains and before important company results were published after the closing bell.
At the time of writing the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 September share price index (SPI) contract was trading 64 points or 0.7% below the previous settlement at 8639 points.
In New York, the major stock indicators finished lower as weakness in many sectors offset a boost from Microsoft and Meta Platforms which delivered impressive quarterly earnings, ahead of results from fellow ‘Magnificent Seven’ technology stocks Apple and Amazon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7%, the S&P 500 drifted down by 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite shed just 0.03%.
The market was unnerved by doubts about the direction of U.S. interest rates following the Federal Reserve Board’s decision this week to keep them steady.
Commerce Department data shows inflation rose in June due to new tariffs.
The Australian share market finished slightly down on Thursday with the S&P/ASX 200 Index losing 0.2%.
News scheduled for today includes Australian retail sales, building approvals, private sector credit and international trade prices data, a speech by Reserve Bank of Australia Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser, and earnings from Unibail-RodamcoWestfield (ASX: URW), according to CommSec.
On fixed interest markets, the Australian Government bond yield curve steepened as 10-year rates rose 0.47% to 4.306% while two-year rates held steady at 3.39%.
