Australia

Australian shares are positioned to open lower after a mixed session on Wall Street.

ASX futures are down 13 points or 0.2 percent.

Investors will receive additional data today with the monthly inflation report which is released at 11:30am.  

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil rose by 1.53% to $US76.76 a barrel, Gold rose 1.70% to $US2,035 and Iron ore fell moderately to $US140.87 a tonne.

In local bond markets, yields on Australian 2 Year government bonds yields fell to 3.86% and the 10 Year yield was mostly flat at 4.115%. Overseas, the US Treasury notes were mostly positive, with the yield on 2 Year rising slightly to 4.368% and the 10 Year yield flat at 4.115%

The Australian dollar was down at 66.87 US cents. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies rose to 102.53.

Asia

Japanese shares closed flat yesterday with a slight rise in the Shanghai and Shenzhen market with Hong Kong dropping.

Europe

European shares fell on Tuesday.

North America

US markets were mixed overnight with a slight rise in the Nasdaq which closed up 0.09% while the S&P 500 fell 0.15% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average failing 0.42%.