Australia

The Australian share market is set for a flat open, with investors keeping a close eye on Wall Street, where a tech-based sell-off has offset positive consumer data and rising oil prices.

The SPI200 futures contract was up just 5 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 5745.0 at 8am Sydney time on Thursday, pointing to subdued early trade for the ASX, after commodity-related stocks had damned the bourse to its worst back-to-back days since February.

Oil prices rose nearly 2 per cent overnight, recouping some of the previous session's heavy sell-off, but further drop for Apple led a decline in US technology stocks.

In Wall Street trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 138.8 points, or 0.55 per cent, at 25,147.69, the S&P 500 was down 21.59 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 2700.59 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 32.09 points, or 0.45 per cent, at 7168.78.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has climbed and is buying 72.40 US cents, up from 72.19 US cents Wednesday.

In local finance news on Thursday, Northern Star and Fortescue Metals will continue the AGM season, while Wesfarmers shareholders will vote on whether to green-light the proposed $20 billion demerger of Coles.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to release the latest jobs data at 11.30am.

ASIA

Tencent beat third-quarter profit forecasts on Wednesday but gave no update on a regulatory block in China, the world's largest gaming market, that has damaged its core business.

Tencent shares, which more than doubled in 2017, have dropped by about a third so far this year, wiping about $US165 billion off its market value.

Hong Kong equities slid as data out of China pointed to a sluggish economy.

The Hang Seng index fell 0.5 per cent at 25,792.87, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.7 per cent to 10,478.71.

Official Chinese data showed weaker-than-expected retails sales growth, but saw industrial output and fixed-asset investment holding up. The data came after China reported a sharp slowdown in October credit growth on Tuesday, indicating economic weakness.

The mainland stock market, which closes an hour ahead of Hong Kong's, foreshadowed the fall in the Hang Seng. The Shanghai Composite Index gave up 0.9 per cent, whereas the blue-chip CSI300 retreated 1 per cent.

MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.6 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.2 per cent.

EUROPE

European shares hit their lowest in two weeks on Wednesday in a broadbased sell-off across oil, mining, technology and banking stocks amid renewed worries about a global economic slowdown and Italy's budget crisis deepens.

The pan-European STOXX 600 lost 0.6 per cent after a choppy session as commodities sectors weighed and Italian stocks sold off.

The STOXX and leading euro zone stock indexes hit their lowest since October 31 in early deals, recovering some ground later and ending the day near those levels as Wall Street turned lower as Apple led another decline in technology stocks.

European tech stocks were down 0.6 per cent with chipmaker AMS sinking another 10 per cent to the bottom of the STOXX 600.

Italy's FTSE MIB ended down 0.8 per cent as bank stocks fell 1.4 per cent.

NORTH AMERICA

US stocks have turned lower as Apple led a decline in technology stocks, offsetting early support from tame US consumer prices data and a rebound in oil prices.

The iPhone maker's shares fell 2 per cent on Wednesday, extending its losses for the fifth straight day. A raft of profit warnings from Apple's suppliers has fuelled investor concerns that iPhone sales, in terms of volume, have hit a wall.

The S&P technology index was down 0.8 per cent, hurt by losses in Microsoft and Adobe.

Markets earlier got a boost from data that showed US consumer prices increased 0.3 per cent in October amid a rise in petrol and rental costs, but were in line with expectations.

The S&P energy index which had risen in morning trade on a rebound in oil prices, following a 7 per cent plunge on Tuesday, also gave up gains.

An escalating trade war between the US and China, worries about rising interest rates and slowing corporate profits have stalled gains for US stocks, with the S&P 500 trading about 7.0 per cent below its record level.

The S&P 500 gained 0.6 per cent at the open, reversing later in the day as all the 11 major S&P sectors moved into the red.

The CBOE Volatility index, an indicator of short-term volatility in the stock market, touched more than one-week high at 21.20 points.

The S&P utilities index fell 1.06 per cent after PG&E Corp slumped 22.7 per cent on warnings it could face "significant liability" in excess of its insurance coverage in the event that its equipment was found to have caused the blaze in California.

Snap fell 3 per cent after Reuters reported that US regulators have subpoenaed the social media app maker for information about its March 2017 initial public offering.

 

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Morningstar with AAP, Reuters

Lex Hall is content editor, Morningstar Australia

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