Amazon Lifts Tech Sector as Australian Shares Set to Open Lower

The Australian stock market is expected to open lower on Monday despite a positive close for Wall Street on Friday, where Amazon's strong earnings boosted confidence in artificial intelligence and lifted chip stocks. The tech giant's quarterly revenue growth was its strongest in over four years, supporting its decision to increase planned capital expenditure by 10% to USD220 billion in 2026.

Amazon's surge more than offset Apple's decline of 7.4% after it warned that supply constraints would weigh on growth and impact consumer demand following recent iPhone price increases. The S&P 500 Information Technology Index fell 0.54%, despite gains across other major technology stocks, including Microsoft which added a further 3%.

The decline in Apple shares was one of the few negative notes from Wall Street on Friday, with the Dow Jones rising 0.53%, the S&P 500 up 0.70%, and the Nasdaq up 1%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index edged up 0.07%, but remains more than 20% below its record closing high on 22 June.

Locally, the Melbourne Institute will release its July inflation gauge at 11:00am AEST, after annual inflation climbed 3.9% in June. In other economic news, Brent crude prices settled below USD83 a barrel following comments from US President Donald Trump that the US would hold off on further strikes against Iran provided a deal could be reached quickly to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions.