Oil Prices Retreat, Aussie Shares Set to Open Higher Amid Earnings Buzz

The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher on Monday, following a volatile week on Wall Street. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed mixed on Friday, with the Nasdaq falling sharply due to concerns about heavy artificial intelligence spending ahead of this week's megacap earnings reports.

Oil prices retreated from their previous session's peak after a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would halt its attacks if the US did the same. The development came after the US paused its bombing campaign, citing diminishing targets and concerns about depleting US weapons stockpiles.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 4.2% on Friday, taking its July loss to nearly 17%. Investors are now turning their attention to earnings from Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Apple this week.