Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, after a mixed session on Wall St, and a selloff in Europe.

ASX futures were down 0.2% or 17 points as of 8:00am on Monday, suggesting a lower open.

U.S. stocks held their ground Friday, capping a week of strong gains on a cautious note.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to a fresh high, bringing its weekly gain to 3.2%. The S&P 500 slipped from its record, but logged a weekly gain of 1.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also declined, shedding 0.5% for the week.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.2% to US$82.62 a barrel, while gold was up 1.3% at US$2,333.04.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was down at 3.90% while the 10 Year yield was also down at 4.12%. US Treasury notes were mixed, with the 2 Year yield unchanged at 4.70% and the 10 Year yield down at 4.22%.

The Australian dollar was 66.12 US cents. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was up at 100.07.

Asia

Chinese shares ended higher, led by property and hardware stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.1% higher at 3,032.63, the Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.4% and ChiNext Price Index gained 0.8%. Investors are waiting for PBOC's medium-term lending facility rate announcement over the weekend. Among major stocks, Poly Developments & Holdings gained 1.4% and Zhongji Innolight Co. gained 12%. Decliners include China Mobile and China Telecom, which closed 0.7% and 0.3% lower, respectively.

Hong Kong shares ended lower, dragged down by losses in retail stocks amid risk-off sentiment spurred by macro uncertainty. Investors are parsing the impact of decisions by the Fed and BOJ, and looking to a string of key Chinese economic data due next week, plus rate announcements from the PBOC. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.9% to 17,941.78 and the Hang Seng Tech Index shed 0.8%. Chow Tai Fook Jewellery was the top decliner, sliding 8.9% on weak sales and disappointing dividend. Biopharma stocks WuXi AppTec and Wuxi Biologics added to the losses, falling 5.1% and 4.4% respectively. Gainers include developer Longfor Group, which rose 4.0%, and Sunny Optical, which added 3.5%.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in real estate and trading house stocks, after the Bank of Japan kept the amount of bond purchases unchanged for now. Mitsubishi Estate advanced 3.3% and Marubeni climbed 2.9%. The Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.2% to 38,814.56. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell 3.5 basis points to 0.930%. The BOJ said it plans to cut JGB purchases, but will decide on the details at its next meeting. BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda's comments at a post-meeting press conference are in focus.

Indian shares ended higher, supported by auto and finance stocks. After election-triggered volatility, Prime Minister Modi's cabinet appointments appear to have eased concerns among investors of a meaningful shift in policy under the new coalition government, Capital Economics' Bradley Saunders says in a research note. Mahindra & Mahindra gained 2.2% and Tata Motors was 0.8% higher. HDFC Bank added 1.05% and Axis Bank advanced 0.65%. Tech stocks weighed, with Tata Consultancy Services down 1.2% and Wipro 1.05% lower. The benchmark Sensex index ended 0.2% higher at 76,992.77.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. slipped Friday, as the FTSE 100 Index fell 0.2% to 8,146.86.

Among large companies, Alphawave IP Group PLC posted the largest decline, dropping 7.6%, followed by shares of Carnival PLC, which dropped 6.4%. Shares of Dr. Martens PLC fell 4.5%.

Old Mutual Ltd. was the biggest gainer during the session, surging 8.9%, and Investec PLC surged 4.4%. Indivior PLC rounded out the top three movers on Friday, as shares gained 3.4%.

In Europe, shares closed lower, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index down 1.0% to 511.05, Germany's DAX dropped 1.4% to 18,002.02 and France's CAC 40 slid 2.7% to 7,503.27.

Investors dumped European stocks and snapped up safer government bonds, after political turmoil in France raised concerns about the European Union's cohesion. The CAC 40 in Paris fell 6.2% this week, its worst since 2022. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 2.4% on the week, its weakest performance since October.

North America

U.S. stocks held their ground Friday, capping a week of strong gains on a cautious note.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to a fresh high, bringing its weekly gain to 3.2%. The S&P 500 slipped from its record, but logged a weekly gain of 1.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also declined, shedding 0.5% for the week.

A steady trickle of recent economic data has continued to suggest the economy is cooling, but at a gradual pace and without any signs of serious deterioration. Inflation slowed in May, even while the U.S. economy added a surprisingly strong 272,000 jobs for the month. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at its policy meeting this week but most officials at the central bank expect to cut rates before the year ends.

Though the Fed indicated it isn't in a hurry to cut interest rates, investors stepped up their bets that the central bank will lower them. They have been buying U.S. government bonds and pushing their yields lower. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note settled at 4.212% Friday, falling for the 10th time in 12 trading sessions.

"There's some mixed data here and there, but this far into the cycle, we're still at 4% unemployment, so that's pretty healthy," said Arun Bharath, chief investment officer at Bel Air Investment Advisors. Bharath is still bullish on stocks, partially due to forecasts for strong earnings growth.

Wall Street analysts expect S&P 500 companies' second-quarter earnings to jump 9% from a year earlier, according to FactSet, which would mark the biggest increase since the first quarter of 2022. Companies are racing to spend to build out artificial-intelligence programs, boosting the profit outlook for semiconductor companies and utilities.

"That growth and inflation mix is pretty favorable, and the other leg of the stool is the AI investment surge, which is tremendous," said David Lefkowitz, head of U.S. equities at UBS Global Wealth Management.

For the year, the S&P 500 is up 14%.

Among individual stocks Friday, Tesla fell 2.4% after shareholders voted to reinstate Elon Musk's compensation package. Adobe rose 15%, its best day since 2020, after the design software maker reported earnings that topped expectations.

Travel and leisure stocks were among the day's biggest decliners. Carnival shares fell 7.1% after analysts at Bank of America said the industry's pricing power softened in June. Caesars Entertainment dropped 4.9%, while United Airlines Holdings shed 4.6%.