The Australian shares were set to open lower today, while the U.S. stocks remained largely unchanged with a heightened focus on the outlook for interest rates. ASX futures dipped by 21 points or 0.3% to 7214 around 7 am AEST. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq saw minor changes of +0.02%, +0.07%, and +0.01% respectively.

In New York, BHP fell by 0.3%, Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) by 0.9%, while Atlassian (NASDAQ:TEAM) gained by 0.9%. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares dropped by 3.3% while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s shares rose by 1.7% on the back of strong iPhone 15 pre-orders. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) saw a slight dip of 0.3%. The local currency modestly appreciated while the Bloomberg dollar spot index slightly declined.

On the cryptocurrency front, Bitcoin was up by 1.2% to $26,785 at 7.15 am AEST on bitstamp.net after briefly surpassing the $27,000 mark. The yield on the U.S. 10-year note was down by three basis points to 4.30% at 4.59 pm in New York.

The Federal Reserve is expected to maintain rates at 5.25% to 5.5% during its meeting on Wednesday, with nearly a 70% likelihood for another pause in November according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

JPMorgan strategists noted a clear distinction between European rate hikes and an anticipated pause from the Federal Reserve that aligns with earlier decisions made by Bank of Canada and Reserve Bank of Australia. They highlighted a common message across central banks guiding towards a 'high for long' pause.

In other news, Morgan Stanley suggested a portfolio of defensive growth is suitable for a "late cycle" trading market. Russell 'Rusty' Delroy, founder and investment manager of boutique Cottesloe firm Nero Resources Fund, expressed confidence in the oil and gas sector, citing a severe misalignment between company valuations, investor sentiment, and actual supply-demand metrics. He sees value in oil and gas majors like BP (LON:NYSE:BP), which he believes will remain relevant for a long time.

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