Australian shares will open little changed after another low-volume, directionless session in the US ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on Friday.
The September SPI 200 futures contract ended the night six points or 0.1% higher at 4353 as Wall Street closed mixed, oil rallied and most metals edged lower.
The Dow traded in a tight 56-point range before closing 22 points or 0.17% in the red for a second straight loss. The S&P 500 gave up one point or 0.08% while the Nasdaq put on 0.13%.
Trading volumes remained unusually weak as traders held off making big bets ahead of the Federal Reserve's annual economic symposium, which starts on Friday. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi cancelled his appearance on Saturday, citing a heavy workload ahead of next Thursday's ECB meeting. Read more here.
"We are suggesting to our investors that they view last week and this week with a cautious eye," Charles Schwab's director of market and sector analysis told MarketWatch. "Volumes are really low, and a lot of seasoned traders and professionals are on vacation. It'll heat up with Jackson Hole and the Europeans meeting next week."
The night's economic data was mixed, with a slump in consumer confidence partly offset by further evidence that the housing market is bottoming. Confidence fell to a nine-month low, with the Conference Board's index declining to 60.6 last month from 65.4. House prices in all 20 cities in the S&P/Case-Shiller composite index increased in June as the index managed its first year-on-year improvement in nearly two years.
European markets gave back most of Monday's gains as Spain's recession worsened and Catalonia became the latest Spanish region to say it will have to ask the central government for a bailout to pay for services. New figures showed Spain's GDP declined by 0.4% in the second quarter. Germany's DAX retreated 0.64%, France's CAC 0.9%, Spain's IBEX 35 0.88% and Britain's FTSE 0.02%.
Oil turned higher for the first session in four as a storm threatening production and refining in the Gulf of Mexico was upgraded to a category one hurricane. West Texas crude for October delivery was lately up 63 cents or 0.7% at US$96.10 a barrel.
Most metals lost ground amid mild profit-taking ahead of the weekend. Gold fell for the first session in four despite some haven-buying following the weak consumer confidence reading in the US. Gold for December delivery was lately down $6.50 or 0.4% at US$1,669.10 an ounce but well off its session low of US$1,659.10. Silver and platinum also retreated.
Copper declined despite reports of increased buying on the Chinese spot market. In London, copper fell 0.5%, aluminium 0.2%, nickel 1.4%, tin 1% and zinc 0.4%. Lead gained 0.2%. US copper for September delivery was recently down two cents or 0.5% at US$3.46 a pound.
TRADING THEMES TODAY
SHANGHAI TO SET THE TONE?: Another ho-hum session on Wall Street offers little direction this morning, so the market will likely take its cues from its other major lead, Shanghai. The XJO squeezed out a rally yesterday as the Shanghai Composite produced an overdue bounce from three-and-a-half year lows. These are critical times for the benchmark Chinese index, with the 2008 GFC low drawing perilously near. Meanwhile, this weekend's Jackson Hole gathering looks increasingly likely to be a non-event, with Draghi dodging what could have been an uncomfortable panel discussion and Bernanke unlikely to break any news.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Quarterly construction work figures are due at 11.30am EST. A busier night in the US includes preliminary GDP data, the preliminary GDP price index, pending home sales, the Fed's Beige Book and crude oil inventories.
