Australia

Please note: we will be discontinuing the Global Markets Report after 28 February.

Australian shares are set to open higher, while US stocks ended lower Friday amid economy concerns.

ASX futures were up 0.33% or 28 points as of 8:30am on Monday, suggesting a higher open.

US stocks slid Friday as Wall Street's mood darkened on the heels of soft economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each recorded their worst days of the year, with the indexes both dropping 1.7%. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, fell 2.2%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 2.68% to US$74.43 a barrel, while gold was down 0.10% to US$2,936.05.

The Australian dollar was at 63.56 US cents.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.8% to 3,379.11, and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.6% to 2,088.82.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index increased 4.0% to 23,477.92.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lifted 0.3% to 38,776.94.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX fell 0.6% to 75,311.06.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished flat. The FTSE 100 Index was unchanged at 8,659.37.

In Europe, shares closed mixed. Germany's DAX dropped 0.1% to 22,287.56, and France's CAC 40 added 0.4% to 8,154.51.

North America

US stocks ended lower. The DJIA slipped 1.7% to 43,428.02, the S&P 500 also declined 1.7% to 6,013.13, and the Nasdaq fell 2.2% to 19,524.01.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Moderna Inc MRNA, surging 5.37%, Kenvue Inc KVUE jumped 4.20%, and The Hershey Co HSY lifted 4.07%.

The biggest decliners were Akamai Technologies Inc AKAM which dropped 21.73%, GE Vernova Inc GEV fell 8.84%, and Old Dominion Freight Line Inc ODFL lost 8.54%.