Investing.com - The ASX 200 fell 0.3% at Friday's open, despite tech shares in New York rallying overnight.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) surged by 5.5% after unveiling its new AI model 'Gemini', while AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) shares soared 9.9%.
The focus this weekend will be on the US November jobs report, particularly the wages data, which will test bond traders' positioning.
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In the spotlight are Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) and Santos Ltd (ASX:STO), which are currently discussing a potential merger. If successful, this merger would create a company with a market value of nearly $80 billion, consolidating assets that were previously distributed across four companies, including Oil Search and BHP (ASX:BHP) Petroleum, just two years ago.
Washington H Soul Pattinson&Co Ltd (ASX:SOL) is set to host its annual meeting.
ASX 200 Futures were down 15 points or 0.2% to 7170 as of 8am AEDT. The Australian dollar rose by 0.8% to 66.01 US cents, while Bitcoin fell by 0.8% to $US43,337 at 8.26am AEDT.
A sharp strengthening of the yen and a significant shift in Japanese bond yields served as a clear warning to international investors that a crucial stabilizer for global borrowing costs may soon be shaken. Oil prices hovered near a five-month low as a brief rally faltered amidst low-conviction trading and increasing worries about surplus supplies.
On today's agenda, Andrea Brischetto, RBA's Head of Financial Stability, is scheduled to speak at 1.20pm at the Sydney Banking and Financial Stability conference. Key overseas data to look out for include Japan's final third quarter GDP at 10.50am, Eurozone's final November CPI at 6pm, and US November jobs report at 12.30am on Saturday, along with China's November CPI and PPI at 12.30pm on Saturday.