Company Interview / the open: US markets spooked by AI spend

The local market is set to open modestly higher with ASX futures up 9 points. This comes as dampened expectations of another rate cut from the Federal Reserve in December weighed on global stocks. 

There was a muted reaction on markets after President Trump struck a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping to reduce tariffs in exchange for resuming rare earths exports. Megacap earnings results also proved to be a drag on Wall Street with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed lower on Thursday, as Meta and Microsoft fell on worries over surging AI spending. 

President Trump says he's agreed with President Xi to trim tariffs on China's exports from 57% to 47% in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming US soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing. According to China, the deal also included a US pledge to delay for a year a new measure to stop Chinese firms from receiving US technology if they are part-owned by a sanctioned company. 

The US dollar index is up 0.3% on the day, whilst the Australian dollar has fallen back to US65.6 cents