ASX 200 futures are trading 43 points lower today, down 0.54% as of 8:30am and pointing to a weak start for the local share market, which is taking the lead from the major US indices.
On Wall Street there was a bearish mood, weighed by a decline in technology shares as investors waited on a crucial speech by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the central bank's annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
Tech leads the losses
Major technology firms fielded significant losses, with Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla shares falling between 2% and 5.7%.
Snowflake, a cloud analytics firm, saw its shares plummet by 14.7% due to rising costs affecting its operating margins.
Moderna shares also dipped by 6.5% following US regulators' approval of an updated Covid-19 vaccine amid rising infections across the country.
The Dow Jones dropped 178 points or 0.4%, the S&P 500 index slid 0.9%, and the Nasdaq index fell 300 points or 1.7%.
European markets gain despite global economic concerns
By contrast, European sharemarkets closed higher on Thursday.
The healthcare sector reached a record high, buoyed by a 2.4% increase in shares of Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO), Europe’s most valuable company by market value.
The European Central Bank's (ECB) July meeting minutes revealed that policymakers saw no immediate need to cut rates, although a discussion is expected in September due to growth concerns.
The HCOB eurozone composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) improved to 51.2 in August from 50.2 in July. The continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 rose by 0.4%, while the UK FTSE 100 index inched up 0.1%.
Economic indicators from the US
In US economic data, initial jobless claims rose by 4,000 to 232,000 last week, aligning with expectations. The S&P Global manufacturing PMI decreased from 49.6 to 48 in August, while the services PMI slightly improved to 55.2.
Existing home sales increased by 1.3% in July, and the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index rose from -13 to -3 in August. However, the Chicago Fed national activity index declined from -0.09 to -0.34 in July.
Commodities and currencies
Global oil prices rebounded on Thursday, with Brent crude rising 1.5% to US$77.22 a barrel, and the US Nymex crude price also gaining 1.5% to US$73.01 a barrel.
Base metal prices were mixed, with copper futures down 1% and aluminium futures up 0.1%. The gold futures price fell 1.2% to US$2,516.70 an ounce, pressured by a stronger US dollar and rising US Treasury yields. Iron ore futures dipped slightly by 0.2% to US$98.19 a tonne.
Looking ahead
Back home, earnings results are expected from Accent, Inghams, Latitude, Mayne Pharma and Spark New Zealand, while Lendlease and Vicinity will trade ex-dividend.
In the US, new home sales data is scheduled, and of course we have the highly anticipated Powell speech at Jackson Hole.