Morning traders.Market wrap: A soft start is likely after our...

Morning traders.

Market wrap: A soft start is likely after our market yesterday pre-empted solid overnight gains for commodities and U.S. equities.

The December SPI futures contract this morning closed 18 points or 0.4% weaker at 4701 as futures traders decided our market factored in bigger overnight gains during yesterday's 1.3% surge than were achieved.

Wall Street rallied after the G-20 meeting increased hopes for further central-bank stimulus in the U.S., crimping the U.S. dollar and helping resources and resource stocks advance. The Dow was up 140 points in early trade as exporters benefitted from the weaker dollar but closed just 32 points or 0.29% higher. The S&P 500 rose for a fourth session, up 0.22%, and the Nasdaq added 0.46%.

The market was helped by solid housing data and third-quarter company earnings but the gains were tempered by further falls in financial stocks after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said banking regulators expect results of an investigation into mortgage foreclosures to be ready next month.

U.S. investors interpreted the G-20 meeting as providing a green light for further quantitative easing as early as next week, increasing the pressure on the U.S. dollar and supporting equities.

The G-20 "reaffirmed the status quo and going forward we are likely to see the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan go on with quantitative easing," the chief investment strategist for UBS AG Wealth Management in Singapore told Bloomberg.

The U.S. dollar hit a 15-year low against the yen. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was recently down 0.44% but fractionally stronger than yesterday's eastern Australian lunchtime.

Precious metals attracted buying as investors sought alternative investments to the flagging buck. Spot gold was recently $12 higher than Friday's New York close at $1,339.70 an ounce. December silver rose 43 cents or 1.8%.

Oil continued to benefit from strikes in France that have disrupted supplies. Crude futures rallied 58 cents or 0.7% to $82.27 a barrel.

Copper hit a 27-month high on signs of rising Chinese demand. Zinc advanced to a nine-month high after a Chinese smelter was closed because of a pollution investigation. In late trade in London, copper was up 1.6%, aluminium 0.1%, lead 1.6%, nickel 1.5%, tin 1.3% and zinc 2%.

The major European markets rallied but pared gains late in the session. Britain's FTSE advanced 0.19%, Germany's DAX 0.51% and France's CAC 0.04%.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

AHEAD OF OURSELVES: A good session overseas but not as strong as our market expected during yesterday's bull run. That means we may give a little back this morning. Gains in oil and metals should support our miners - BHP, Rio and Alumina were all up more than 2% in U.S. trade overnight - but we may see weakness elsewhere. Precious metals may have corrected far enough to find buyers after the G-20 meeting did nothing to alter the recent "short U.S. dollar/long commodities" dynamic that has been driving our market.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Quarterly local business confidence figures are due at 11.30 am. Consumer confidence tops the bill tonight in the U.S., ahead of the house price index and regional manufacturing.

Good luck to all.