TMH Market Open: ASX200 to open lower, following wilt on Wall Street

The ASX is set to drop for a third straight session, following a wilt on Wall Street.

The three big indexes all finished lower, weighed down by market fears another rate hike looms.

The S&P 500 shed nearly one per cent – its largest decline in six weeks. The New York Stock Exchange lost 1.2 per cent.

All 11 US sectors sank, dragged by energy and communication stocks.

Overnight, US labour market data showed there was only a moderate increase in the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits, while private payrolls rose.

The report also suggested workers who were recently laid off aren’t remaining unemployed for long, finding new work in a shorter amount of time. The data also revealed more people are quitting their jobs.

The full US employment is due to be released later tonight.

Meanwhile, Facebook parent Meta dipped nearly one per cent. It came as news outlet Semafor reported Twitter has allegedly threatened to sue Meta over its new social media platform, Threads.   

The new platform to rival Twitter launched a day ago and has already accumulated more than 30 million users – including our own Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.

Semafor’s report cited a letter sent to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg by Twitter’s lawyer, which accused Meta of hiring ex-Twitter employees, suggesting the new recruits revealed “highly confidential information.”

The Australian dollar lost 0.5 per cent. One Aussie dollar is buying 66 US cents and 52 British pence.

In commodities, crude oil saw a slight gain in the wake of the OPEC gathering in Vienna. The price of iron ore dipped, trading at US$113.50 per tonne.