ASX futures down after record week

AU Financial Review

3 days ago

Australian shares are expected to open lower on Monday, with futures pointing to a 0.4 per cent drop for the S&P/ASX 200, trimming some of last week's 2.1 per cent gain – the local market's strongest weekly performance since May.
Wall Street ended mixed on Friday as earnings results disappointed and concerns grew over Donald Trump's push for new tariffs on European goods. The Dow fell 142 points, while the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq edged higher.
Back home, attention turns to the Reserve Bank of Australia, with Tuesday's meeting minutes and a Thursday speech from governor Michele Bullock set to shape expectations ahead of the August board meeting. Markets had been pricing in a rate cut this month, but were caught off guard when the RBA held steady at 3.85 per cent. A jump in the unemployment rate, from 4.1 to 4.3 per cent, has since added weight to the case for easing.
'If markets can get their head around the fact that a rate cut is more likely than not, and Michele Bullock is seen to keep the door open to that this week, then markets may well continue on their merry way,' said Stephen Miller, an investment strategy adviser at GSFM.
This week's agenda
Minutes from the RBA's shock decision to hold rates at 3.85 per cent will be released on Tuesday, before Bullock delivers a major speech in Sydney on Thursday.
A string of results from US companies will be announced this week including those from Alphabet, Tesla, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Motors.
Locally, company earnings will be released from the likes of AMP, Woodside Energy, Fortescue and Whitehaven.