Australian shares are poised to open lower as trade tensions between the US and China continue to keep investors wary of a potential escalation.

Macquarie could get an early boost after it agreed to sell a Texas-based data centre company for $US40 billion ($61 billion). Macquarie Asset Management head Ben Way says the infrastructure investor has five more portfolio companies that could reach the scale of Aligned Data Centers within five years.

Market highlights

ASX 200 futures are pointing down 42 points or 0.5 per cent to 8977.
All US prices near 1.30pm New York time.

AUD +0.2% to US64.94¢Bitcoin -1.8% to $US110,534On Wall St: Dow -0.3% S&P -0.2% Nasdaq -0.1%VIX +1.04 to 21.85Gold +1.1% to $US4190.44 an ounceBrent oil -0.8% to $US61.91 a barrelIron ore -0.3% to $US104.90 a tonne10-year yield: US 4.04% Australia 4.21%Today’s agenda

Quarterly updates are expected from AMP, Challenger and Santos. Among the companies set to hold annual meetings are Aurizon, Stockland and Treasury Wine.

RBA assistant governor (financial markets) Christopher Kent is scheduled to speak at the CFA Society Australia Investment Conference 2025 in Sydney at 8.50am.

The key data print on Thursday is the September Labour Force report at 11.30am.

NAB: “Trend employment growth has slowed this year even as private demand has picked up as exceptional employment gains in heath and care industries have moderated. We expect employment growth of 20k in September, and lean to a 4.3% on unemployment.”

eToro’s Farhan Badami: ”The ABS has made it clear that, despite job creation stalling, a large volume of people leaving the labour force has been a partial driver in monthly figures appearing more stable than the on-the-ground job hunting experience seems to suggest.

“Still, it’s the number, not the context, that the RBA seems to prefer when considering rate calls, and so a steady unemployment figure does create some optimism for those hoping for an additional rate cut before the end of the year. Sticky inflation has all but taken a late-September cut off the table, but there’ll be two more meetings on monetary policy before the end of the year. If CPI comes back towards a target range and we see unemployment continue to hold steady at around 4.2 per cent, a November 25bps cut is a firm possibility.”

Top stories

Origin CEO questions offshore wind as another project falls over | Energy boss Frank Calabria says the sector needs much more support to be viable in Australia, as Germany’s RWE ditches its Victorian project due to high costs.

Macquarie sells data centres to Nvidia-backed group in $61b deal | Macquarie’s Ben Way says the investor has five more portfolio companies that could reach the scale of Aligned Data Centers in three to five years.

Labor to crack down on crypto ATMs amid scam surge | New powers will be handed to regulators to restrict the use of crypto ATMs, which have become a hub for scams and illegal money laundering.

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