Company Interview / the open: ASX to follow Wall Street lower

After minting a fresh record high yesterday, the local market is set to open sharply lower with ASX futures down 0.8%. It comes as US Treasury yields hit their highest level in more than a month as investors digested a slight rise in US inflation. 

The focus was also on quarterly results from the big US banks which kicked off earnings season. While those results failed to spark investor buying on the Dow, there was excitement on the Nasdaq as it posted another record high driven by Nvidia and its ability to resume sending chips into China.

Notably, JPMorgan Chase slipped despite raising its 2025 net interest income outlook, while Wells Fargo fell heavily even as its profit rose on reduced loan-loss reserves. 

After getting a big boost from the Pentagon last week, US rare earths miner MP Materials jumped more than 19% as Apple invested US$500M in the stock.

Meanwhile, currencies were lower against the US dollar in European and US trade; the Aussie dollar fell to US$0.658; Bitcoin has pulled back after scaling new highs to be trading at $117,000.