ASX 200 futures fell 1.4 per cent to 8510, pointing to a drop of more than 100 points when the Australian market reopened on Tuesday after a public holiday. The move signalled a sharp risk-off start for local investors after a weak US jobs report set off a global sell-off in technology shares.
Friday’s US jobs report smashed market expectations and triggered a rout on Wall Street, where investors moved quickly to dump technology stocks. That selling pressure spread through Asia and reached South Korea, leaving Australian sharemarket traders facing the reopening with little shelter from the offshore move.
The market reaction was tied to growing fears that the US Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates by the end of the year. That is what has given the ASX 200 futures move its edge today: it was not a local shock, but a global response building while the Australian market was shut for the holiday.
Technology stocks were at the centre of the pressure, a warning sign for a market that can be dragged lower quickly when growth names lose favour overseas. The open question is how far the ASX 200 will actually fall once trading resumes, but the futures market has already shown the likely direction before the first trade.
