Australian market futures point lower as US inflation sparks rate-hike fears

Around 7:05 am AEDT, ASX200 futures were trading 0.3% lower at 8,716 points, indicating the Australian market will likely open down after Wall Street closed in negative territory. US markets reacted sharply to September inflation figures that exceeded forecasts, pushing the Nasdaq down more than 2% and dragging the S&P 500 and Dow lower by 1.2% and 0.1% respectively. European benchmarks posted modest gains, with the DAX up 0.2% and the FTSE up 0.7%.

Commodity prices also moved, as spot gold fell 1.3% to about $4,101 per ounce, Brent crude rose 0.3% to $106.02 a barrel, and iron ore slipped slightly. The Australian dollar slipped 0.1% to 69.71 US cents, while Bitcoin dropped 1.9% to roughly $81,800. Analysts linked the market weakness to expectations that the Federal Reserve may raise rates in response to the hotter-than-expected inflation reading.