ASX set to dip as Wall Street treads water

US stocks hung around their record levels as Wall Street remained relatively quiet following another slide in Europe.

The S&P 500 edged down by less than 0.1 per cent, marking the first time this week where it did not set an all-time high. The Dow Jones dipped 0.1 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.1 per cent to its record set a day before on the back of gains for technology stocks. The Australian sharemarket is set to start the week on the back foot, with futures pointing to a dip of 17 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open.

Losses were sharper across the Atlantic, where markets have been rocked by the results of recent elections in Europe. Wins by far-right parties have raised the pressure on France’s president in particular, and investors worry it could weaken the European Union, stall fiscal plans and ultimately hurt France’s ability to pay its debt. Recent elections have also shaken markets in Mexico, India and elsewhere.

France’s CAC 40 fell 2.7 per cent to bring its loss for the week to 6.2 per cent, its worst in more than two years. Germany’s DAX lost 1.4 per cent.

On Wall Street, RH fell 17.1 per cent after reporting a worse loss for the latest quarter than financial analysts expected. The seller of home furnishings called this “the most challenging housing market in three decades.”

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High mortgage rates have hurt the housing market, as the Federal Reserve has kept its main interest rate at the highest level in more than two decades. The central bank is intentionally slowing the economy through high rates in hopes of starving high inflation of its fuel.

Cruise-ship operators were among the market’s biggest losers after analysts at Bank of America flagged softening price trends for trips. Norwegian Cruise Line dropped 7.5 per cent for the worst loss in the S&P 500, and Carnival fell 7.1 per cent.

Stocks have nevertheless set records as hopes rise that inflation is slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later this year. Big technology stocks, meanwhile, continue to race ahead almost regardless of what the economy and interest rates are doing.