MORNING REPORT(8.00am AEDT) -- US Market close
US factory orders rose by 1.8pct in November, driven by aircraft and transportation orders. New orders excluding transportation rose by a more modest 0.3pct. Durable goods orders rose by 3.7pct.

US chain store sales were 4.9pct higher than a year earlier in the week to December 31 according to the Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index. For December as a whole, spending was up by a healthy 3.7pct compared with a year ago.

Euro zone inflation was estimated at a 2.8pct annual rate in December, down from 3.0pct in November. French retail sales eased 0.1pct in November after a 0.1pct rise in October.

The German Treasury raised EUR 4.057 billion in a sale of 10-year bunds. Bids at the auction were EUR 5.14billion. compared to a maximum target of EUR 5.0billion covering the maximum target for the first time in three auctions. In Portugal, a 3-month bills auction raised EUR 1billion at a yield of 4.34pct compared to 4.87pct in December.

European shares eased from five-month highs on Wednesday in response to a weak capital raising by Italian lender UniCredit. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 0.6pct on low volumes with the UK FTSE down 0.6pct and German Dax lower by 0.9pct.

US shares recovered from early losses on Wednesday as investors shrugged off worries about Europe. Shares in Kodak fell 27pct on bankruptcy fears.Car makers rose on solid sales data. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones was up by 21 points or 0.2pct after being down 60pts in early trade. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were both flat (change of less than 0.1pct).

US treasury prices eased again on Wednesday (yields higher) on optimism about prospects for the US economy. US 2yr yields were flat at 0.26pct and US 10yr yields rose by 3pts to 1.99pct.

The US dollar lifted modestly against major currencies on Wednesday as investors adopted a more cautious stance. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.3070 to around US$1.2900 and was near US$1.2940 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar eased from highs around US103.75c to US103.05c, and was around US103.65c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen traded between 76.58 yen per US dollar and JPY76.81, and was near JPY76.70 in late US trade.

World crude oil prices rose modestly on Wednesday in response to stronger US economic data and on-going tensions between the US and Iran. Nymex crude oil rose by US26c or 0.3pct to an 8-month high of US$103.22 a barrel and London Brent crude rose by US$1.57 or 1.4pct to US$113.70 a barrel.

Base metals eased between 0.4-3.2pct on Wednesday as investors unwound the previous days gains in response to a weaker euro against the greenback. But the gold price rose on lingering investor concerns about the Euro debt crisis with the Comex February gold price up US$12.20 or 0.8pct to US$1,612.70 an ounce.

Ahead: In Australia, car sales and trade data are released together with the Performance of Services index. In the US, the ISM services index and weekly jobless claims data are released