Wall Street retreats as oil prices surge, ASX set to slip

Wall Street retreated as oil prices surged to their highest level since April, with the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq all closing lower on Friday, and the ASX is set to slip 0.5% in futures trading. The oil price jump of 3% fueled inflation worries, overshadowing a generally positive Q3 earnings season where S&P 500 profits are on pace to climb over 30% from a year ago. Key tech earnings from Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon are due this week. Central bank decisions from the US Fed, ECB, and Bank of Japan are expected to hold rates, while New Zealand's central bank is tipped to hike. Gold fell below $US4,000/ounce for the first time since July.