Morning traders.Market wrap: A flat night on Wall Street and a...

Morning traders.

Market wrap: A flat night on Wall Street and a mixed session for resources points to a modestly negative open for local stocks this morning.

U.S. stocks slumped early in the session after analyst downgrades in the financial sector but pared losses as investors bought the dip. The Dow Jones index closed 0.15% lower, the S&P 500 retreated by 0.28% and the Nasdaq rose 0.04%.

The declines across the financial sector came as noted banking analyst Meredith Whitney said she believes bank stocks are "at least fairly valued" and cut her ratings on key stocks a day before JPMorgan kicks off the reporting season for the sector.

Most sectors finished in the red but oilers continued to creep higher and precious metals miners added 1.87%.

European markets were driven lower by the initial slump in the U.S. but closed before the bounce. Britain's FTSE lost 1.08%, Germany's DAX 1.19% and France's CAC 1.15%.

Crude oil futures were boosted by a 2010 demand forecast upgrade by the OPEC oil cartel. Crude rose 1.2% to recently trade at $74.25 a barrel, its highest level since August, after OPEC raised its forecast for world oil demand by 200,000 barrels a day for this year and 2010.

Gold set another new high overnight as the U.S. dollar hit a 14-month low against the euro. The spot price rose above $1,068 and recently traded at $1,062.90. Platinum hit its highest level in more than a year.

However, base metals slid on fears of waning Chinese demand. China will announce September copper imports today, which are expected to have fallen for a third consecutive month. "That would be a real blow to the bulls as the story of China buying at any price might be blown up," said an analyst quoted on Reuters. In London, copper lost 2.31%, aluminium 2.41%, lead 2.85%, nickel 2.67%, tin 2.39% and zinc 3.3%.

Futures traders expect a red start to local trade after yesterday's healthy rise. The SPI futures index was 13 points lower at 4780.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

GOLD/OIL: Gold just keeps climbing. Stick with the trend. Oil is pushing back towards the August high and could conceivably break out this week, although the economic fundamentals do not yet seem conducive to another bull run.

ECONOMIC NEWS: A busier 24 hours ahead. Locally, Westpac's consumer confidence reading for last month, due at 11 am, takes on more significance after yesterday's slide in business confidence. Chinese trade balance figures are also due. There's a swathe of data tonight in the US besides more profit reports: retail sales, minutes from the last Fed meeting, business inventories, mortgage applications and the import price index.

Good luck to all.