Investing.com - Australian shares are expected to decline by 1.8% at Friday's open, following a significant drop in New York markets overnight. Slower US growth data has sparked concerns that the Federal Reserve may be lagging in cutting interest rates.
ASX 200 Futures were last trading 1.7% lower, after initially dropping more than 2.1%. The Australian dollar also slipped below US$0.65.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.2% to 40,347.97, the S&P 500 fell 1.4% to 5,446.68, and the NASDAQ Composite declined by 2.3% to 17,194.15.
In after-hours deals, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) lifted 0.8% after reporting) EPS of $1.4 versus $1.35 expected on revenues of $85.8 billion versus $84.45 billion expected.
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) shed 7% after reporting EPS of $1.26 versus $1.03 expected on revenues of $147.98 billion versus $148.68 billion expected.
Atlassian Corp Plc (NASDAQ:TEAM) also tumbled more than 12% following its earnings report, despite EPS and revenue beating market expectations.
Among individual companies, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) slid 6.7% and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 6.6%, with six of the "magnificent seven" tech stocks down. In contrast, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) rose 4.8% after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results.
US Treasury yields fell after the US Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported its manufacturing PMI hit its lowest point since November, suggesting the economy is weakening. A rate cut by the Bank of England and potential policy easing in the US further impacted bond returns.
Oil futures gave back earlier gains overnight as global supply appeared largely unaffected by concerns of a worsening Middle East crisis following the assassination of a Hamas leader in Iran. Brent crude futures dropped 1.6%, while Crude Oil WTI Futures eased 0.1%.