US industrial production rose by 0.2pct in August, in line with expectations. Capacity use edged up from 74.6pct to 74.7pct. The Empire State manufacturing survey eased from +7.10 to +4.14 in September, below expectations for a result near +8.0. But new orders rose from -2.71 to +4.33. And export prices rose by 0.8pct in August with import prices up 0.6pct.

Reserve Bank New Zealand has kept the cash rate at 3.00pct.

European shares eased modestly on Wednesday after the European Union unveiled plans to curb short-selling and tighten controls on derivatives. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 0.3pct with both the UK FTSE and German Dax lower by 0.2pct.

US sharemarkets posted modest gains on Wednesday. The Dow Jones gained 46pts or 0.4pct with the S&P 500 also up 0.4pct and the Nasdaq rose by 11.5pts or 0.5pct.

US treasuries were mixed on Wednesday. Longer-term treasuries fell (yields higher) on speculation that the Bank of Japan would use the proceeds of yesterday´s currency intervention to invest in shorter-dated debt. US 2yr yields fell by 3pts to 0.48pct but US 10yr yields rose by 4pts to near 2.72pct.

The Japanese yen continued to ease against the US dollar in European and US trade on Wednesday after the previous day´s intervention by the Bank of Japan to weaken the currency. The Japanese yen eased from 84.75 yen per US dollar to JPY85.75, ending US trade near JPY85.70. The Euro traded between US$1.2955 to US$1.3035, ending US trade near US$1.3005. The Aussie dollar lifted from lows near US93.40c to US94.20c, and ended US trade near US93.75c.

US oil prices fell for a second day on Wednesday. Expectations of a quicker-than-expected restart of Enbridge´s Line 6A Canadian-US pipeline were balanced against data showing a drop in US crude oil inventories. Crude oil stocks fell by 2.49 million barrels in the latest week. The Nymex crude oil contract fell by US78c or 1.0pct to US$76.02. London Brent crude fell by US25c to US$78.91 a barrel.

Base metal prices eased on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday as investors chose to reflect on a weaker Chinese sharemarket and intervention by the Bank of Japan to weaken the Japanese yen. While most metals eased around 0.5pct, zinc lost 1.5pct. And the gold price also eased from record highs despite a softer greenback. Comex gold fell by US$3.00 an ounce to US$1,268.70 after trading as high as US$1,273.50 an ounce.

Ahead: In Australia, the South Australian budget is handed down. Reserve Bank assistant governor Phillip Lowe delivers a speech. In the US producer prices, weekly jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed index are released.