Company Interview / the open: ASX to track Wall Street slowdown

The local market looks set to open lower with ASX futures down 0.5%. This comes as US stocks closed lower for a second straight session as investors took a cautious stance on policy uncertainty from the Federal Reserve, while questions remain about highly valued asset prices. 

On wall street, Micron Technology ended lower after the memory chipmaker reported quarterly results. US-listed shares of Chinese companies rose, led by a gain in Alibaba which has unveiled the largest-ever AI language model, Qwen3-Max, and announced plans to open its first data centers in Brazil, France and the Netherlands. 

In the US, sales of new single-family homes surged in August, up 20.5%, although the boost from declining mortgage rates is expected to be limited by a weakening labor market. The US dollar index is up 0.7% on the day, whilst the Australian dollar is trading lower at US65.8 cents. 

On the corporate calendar and earnings report is due from Premier Investments whilst Suncorp will be holding its AGM.