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Australian shares are expected to open slightly higher despite weak results from Wall Street and the US economy.
Markets at 8:00am (AEST):
- ASX SPI 200 futures +0.3pc at 5,675, ASX 200 (Tuesday close) -0.2pc at 5,671
- AUD: 78.85 US cents, 58.58 British pence, 66.86 euro cents, 88.52 Japanese yen, NZ$1.09
- US: Dow Jones flat at 22,284, S&P 500 flat at 2,497, Nasdaq +0.2pc at 6,380
- Europe: FTSE -0.2pc at 7,286, DAX +0.1pc at 12,605, Euro Stoxx 50 flat at 3,536
- Commodities: Brent crude -1pc at $US59.17/barrel, spot gold -1.1pc at $US1,310/ounce, iron ore +3pc at $US64.95/tonne
Commodity prices experienced sharp losses overnight, with Brent crude and gold prices falling by around 1 per cent each.
What happened on Wall Street?
It was a mostly-flat performance from Wall Street overnight, with industry sectors ending the day with losses.
Technology was the only stock sector which posted a slight gain (+0.2pc), recovering from yesterday's sharp sell-off which saw the shares of Amazon, Apple, and Facebook drop by 1 to 5 per cent.
Healthcare was one of the weakest performers following the Republicans' second failed attempt in two months to repeal Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Healthcare Act.
The Republicans were unable to gain enough support from senators within their own party. Hence, they decided not to put it to a vote before the US Senate.
President Donald Trump vowed frequently, during his 2016 election campaign, to scrap the signature healthcare legislation enacted by his predecessor Barack Obama.
In economic news, new home sales dropped to an eight-month low in August — down 3.4 per cent. This was due to the impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
In addition, the consumer confidence index for September fell slightly to 119.8 (down from 120.4 in August), according to the results of a private survey by Nielsen and the Conference Board.
The market's expectations of a US interest rate hike have now increased to 78 per cent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
This follows a speech delivered by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday.
The Fed needs to continue gradually lifting interest rates despite broad uncertainty about the path of inflation, Dr Yellen said.
"Without further modest increases in the federal funds rate over time, there is a risk that the labour market could eventually become overheated, potentially creating an inflationary problem down the road that might be difficult to overcome without triggering a recession," she said.
Dr Yellen also said the US central bank may have "misjudged" the labour market's strength and "misspecified" the pace of inflation.
Australian market today
Today's focus will likely be on geopolitical developments.
It will otherwise be a quiet day for local economic news, with no new data being released until Friday — when the Reserve Bank releases its monthly private sector credit figures.
The Greenback has continued to strengthen against the local currency.
The Australian dollar has fallen below the 79 US cents mark. It is currently buying 78.85 US cents.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, economic-trends, stockmarket, markets, australia, united-states