Local shares are poised for a flat open on the final trading session of the year, which will be a shortened one, as global equities drifted overnight as oil slipped.
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What you need2know:
• SPI futures unchanged at 5382
• AUD at 81.86 US cents
• In late trade, S&P 500 -0.5%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq -0.7%
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 -1.6%, FTSE -1.3%, CAC -1.7%, Dax -1.2%
• Spot gold up $US17.48 or 1.5% at $US1200.77 an ounce
• Brent oil down 26 US cents or 0.5% at $US57.62 per barrel
What's on today
Australia ASX early close, private sector credit; US Chicago PMI, pending home sales.
Stocks to watch
Morningstar has a "reduce" call on Duet Group and a fair value of $1.80 a share and rates its fair value uncertainty at "medium".
Patersons Securities puts an "accumulate" on Woolworths after the supermarket retailer and Hills, maker of the hills hoist clothesline, announced in early December a strategic partnership by signing a licensing agreement for up to 19 years.
Currencies
"Tracking a key daily commodity index such as the CRB Futures index since 2008 suggests that the Aussie dollar should be in the US70-80¢ range rather than between US80-85¢," reports CommSec.
"Using the Reserve Bank's commodity index – either in US dollar terms or 'currency-neutral' SDR terms – suggests an Aussie dollar in the US75-85¢ range seems more appropriate. No doubt the RBA would argue that a currency in the bottom of the range would be more helpful in rebalancing the economy from mining to non-mining sectors."
The yen rose by the most in two weeks against the US dollar as oil prices slumped to a five-year low, feeding demand for haven assets.
Japan's currency gained versus most of its 31 major peers as the Bank of Japan said it will increase the length of maturity of government bonds it buys.
Commodities
Ore with 62 per cent content delivered to Qingdao, China, rose 3.6 per cent to $US71.15 a dry metric ton, according to data by Metal Bulletin. That's the first time the raw material traded above $US70 in more than three weeks and pares this year's slump to 47 per cent.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.56 per cent to close up at $US6325 a tonne, edging away from a 4-1/2 year low of $US6230 a tonne hit on Monday. The metal is still on course to fall some 14 per cent this year.
Gold rose 2 per cent, while silver jumped more than 4 per cent as the US dollar weakened and stock markets slid, with concerns over tension between Russia and the West also helping push the metal through key chart levels.
United States
US stocks edged lower on Tuesday afternoon, with major indices pulling back from record levels as the recent rally lost steam, and the trend of modest moves and low volume continued heading into the final trading day of the year.
Despite the modest move lower, the day's losses were broad, with eight of the ten primary S&P 500 sectors in the red.
The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 92.6 from an upwardly revised 91 the month before. Economists expected a reading of 93 for December.
Europe
European stocks fell, heading for their first December decline since 2008, as energy shares slid. A gauge of oil and gas companies lost 1.8 per cent, posting the biggest loss among 19 industry groups as oil prices traded near a five-year low.
German Bund yields hit a new record low on Tuesday, ending 2014 with their biggest annual fall in six years, as expectations of further monetary easing by the European Central Bank bolstered an unexpected rally.
What happened on Tuesday
On the last full-day of trade for 2014, Australian shares fell heavily with thin trading volumes due to many people taking a break for the holidays.
A bounce in the iron ore price was not enough to buoy sentiment as oil prices continued their slide.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index shed 57.2 points, or 1 per cent, to close trade at 5416.6.
