Local shares are poised to open higher as Wall Street rallies on a mix of solid corporate results and positive economic data.
What you need2know:
• SPI futures up 23 pts at 5471
• AUD at 88.62 US cents, 95.71 Japanese yen, 69.52 Euro cents and 54.89 British pence
• In late trade, S&P 500 +1.1%, Dow +1%, Nasdaq +1.6%
• In Europe, Euro Stoxx 50 +1.2%, FTSE +0.6%, CAC +0.4%, DAX +1.9%
• Spot gold rises 0.2% to $US1228.55 an ounce
• Brent oil up 0.2% to $US85.96 per barrel
• Iron ore slips 0.4% to $US79.22 per metric tonne
What's on today
China Westpac/MNI consumer sentiment, Bloomberg October China economic survey, US Federal Reserve policymakers meet.
Stocks to watch
Tatts Group updated and AGM.
A reinvigorated Alinta Energy is being prepped for a $4 billion sale, according to the Street Talk column in the Australian Financial Review.
Deutsche Bank retains a "buy" on Aurizon with a $5.45 price target.
The following stocks will trade ex dividend today: Countplus and Katana Capital.
Currencies
The greenback has eased as traders rethink bets on the timing of a hike in US interest rates.
Russia's currency fell as speculation increases the country will move to a free float.
The sterling shaved early gains versus the US dollar after Bank of England deputy governor Jon Cunliffe said the central bank could leave rates near their record low for longer than first thought.
Commodities
Copper prices reached a two-week high on bets that looming strikes at two key mines and renewed demand from China. Freeport said a large percentage of pit operators at its Grasberg mine failed to show for their shifts this month, hurting output.
Anglo-American has delivered the first iron ore by ship from its Minas-Rio project in Brazil.
Oil edged higher, bolstered by a weaker greenback. Traders said two key US inventory reports may encourage more selling. Gene McGillian, senior analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut said: "We can't seem to find a bottom yet."
United States
US stocks rose in afternoon trading on Tuesday as better-than-expected earnings eased worries about the outlook for corporate America and a consumer confidence reading hit the highest since 2007.
The Federal Reserve has begun a two-day policy meeting at which a decision is expected to be made to end the buying of assets, known as quantitative easing. The Fed's top officials are expected to reiterate that they are in no hurry at all to begin to lift interest rates.
Twitter shares fell 9.1 per cent after it posted a slide in a closely watched measure of engagement, even as its user base grew in the third quarter.
Europe
European shares rose on Tuesday, reversing the previous session's dip as better-than-expected results from a number of blue-chips including pharma group Novartis and bank UBS helped lift sentiment.
The market has rallied over 8 per cent after hitting a low for 2014 just under two weeks ago. Volatility on the Euro STOXX 50, a measure of investor caution, fell 11.3 per cent on Tuesday, and has fallen over 40 per cent in that fortnight.
"We still see a strong market into the end of the year after the recent weakness and remain bullish," said Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers. "Earnings have been positive over the last few weeks and macro data trending to the upside."
What happened yesterday
The benchmark index slipped 0.1 per cent to 5452.6 points on Tuesday, while the broader All Ordinaries Index lost 0.2 per cent to 5434.
Annual general meeting season provided a slew of company updates.
