There was mixed economic data out of the U.S overnight, European markets eased and the North American markets posted slight gains. The Australian sharemarket is clawing back some of the falls from Monday with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) gaining 0.3 pct or 13.9 pts to 4863.9.

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Performance is quite mixed across sectors with strength in the materials, energy and financials propping up the overall market.

The political unrest in Egypt continues to help lift the oil price which gained more than 3 pct overnight and more than 7pct from its lows on Thursday last week. While there are no expectations for the Suez Canal in Egypt to be closed, delays on the artificial waterway is a possibility. The canal which was constructed in the 1850s, accounts for around 8 pct of all seaborne trade. Movement across the waterway has been reported to currently be normal.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials index is up 0.75pct with both BHP Billiton (BHP) and RIO Tinto (RIO) currently trading higher. BHP is up 1.22 pct or 54 cents to $44.79 and RIO is slightly stronger by 0.54 pct or 45 cents to $84.50.

The Japanese market is slightly stronger after 1.5 hours of trade in their first session today. The Nikkei 225, which was created in 1950 and has been calculated daily by the Nihon Keizai Shumbun newspaper (aka NIKKEI) is up 0.46 pct or 47.5 pts to 10285.42. The Hong Kong market is yet to trade and will open for the first session of the day at 1pm (AEDT).

On the economic front, manufacturing activity has fallen for the fifth straight month with survey respondents partly putting the blame on the stronger Australian dollar and the holiday season in January. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data on home prices today and recorded a 0.7 pct rise in prices over the last three months of calendar year 2010. Canberra and Sydney were the best performing cities with gains of more than 1 pct. Perth was the worst performer after home prices lost 3.2 pct over the December quarter.

It is important to note however, that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is known to pay more attention the the RP Data release which came out yesterday. It showed a 0.2 pct rise in December following a 0.1pct fall in November.

The RBA will be meeting this afternoon at 2.30pm (AEDT) to announce their stance on interest rates. It is widely expected the central bank has no reason to make a move on rates and will keep them unchanged at their current levels of 4.75 pct.

The Australian dollar (AUD) has gained this morning and currently buys US99.76cents.

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