Investing.com - Australian shares are set to open positively on Friday, following extended declines among US indices overnight as investors digested weaker consumer spending and a significant slump in the tech sector, led by Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM).
Wall Street's major indices saw a decline overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.9%, the S&P 500 falling 0.6%, and the NASDAQ Composite decreasing by 1.1%.
Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL), which has been acting as a proxy for NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) over the past month, experienced a significant drop of 5.2% during the session, with an additional 12% slump in extended trading following disappointing latest results.
Salesforce’s poor outlook, released after the previous day’s closing bell, resulted in a 20% drop in its stock. Other tech giants, including Nvidia, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD), Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW), Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:ZS), and Atlassian Corp Plc (NASDAQ:TEAM), also suffered significant losses.
On the bond markets, US 10-year fell 7 basis points to 4.55%.
The attention now turns to the release of April’s personal income, spending, and the core PCE price index. Economists forecast the personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding food and energy, to rise by 0.2% in April. This would represent the smallest increase this year for the measure, which offers a better insight into underlying inflation.
Among local companies, Select Harvests Ltd (ASX:SHV) is set to release earnings on Friday, and Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) will host an AGM. Meanwhile, BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) will take investors to see growth projects in Chile to assure them it does not need a major copper acquisition like its failed $75b bid for Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL).