US existing home sales rose by 4.3pct in January to a 20-month high of 4.57 million, slightly below market expectations. The supply of homes fell to a seven year low. US chain store sales in the past week were 2.9pct higher than a year ago according to the Johnson Redbook index.

The Euro-zone flash composite Purchasing Managers index reading for February dipped to 49.7 from 50.4. The service sector PMI dipped to 49.4 from 50.4, the manufacturing measure eased from 49.0 to 48.8.

European shares eased again on Wednesday as weaker purchasing manager indexes caused investors to book further profits on recent gains. Miners were again mixed with Rio Tinto down 1.0pct in London trade while BHP Billiton rose by 0.3pct. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 0.8pct while the UK FTSE eased by 0.2pct and the German Dax lost 0.9pct.

US sharemarkets drifted again on Wednesday in line with other financial markets as investors groped for factors to provide direction. Financial stocks eased with Morgan Stanley and Citigroup both down over 2pct. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index was down slightly by just 27 points or 0.2pct. The S&P 500 was down 0.3pct and the Nasdaq eased by 15pts or 0.5pct.

US treasury prices rose on Wednesday (yields lower), reversing some of the previous day´s movements and confirming that financial markets had moved into a holding pattern. US Treasury sold US$35 billion of five-year notes and a further US$29 billion of seven-year notes will be sold on Thursday. US 2yr yields fell by 1pt to 0.297pct and US 10yr yields fell by 6pts to 2.00pct.

Major currencies were again mixed against the greenback in European and US trade on Wednesday. The Euro held between US$1.3215 and US$1.3265, and was near US$1.3240 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar eased from highs around US106.85c to just above US106.00c, and was near US106.35c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen eased from 79.94 yen per US dollar to JPY80.38 and was near JPY80.28 in late US trade.

Benchmark crude oil prices were mixed on Wednesday in line with similar action on other financial markets. Euro-zone purchasing indexes eased in the latest month but tensions continue to escalate between western nations and Iran. US Nymex was lower for most of the day before clawing back losses to end higher by US3c to US$106.28 a barrel while London Brent crude rose by US$1.24 to a fresh nine-month high of US$122.90 a barrel.

Base metal prices were mixed on Wednesday. Tin, nickel and copper recorded small declines and other metals rose between 1.2-2.0pct. And the gold price also rose in a choppy session with the Comex April gold up by US$12.80 to US$1,771.30 an ounce.

Ahead: In Australia, average weekly earnings data is released. David Jones is reporting quarterly sales. A raft of companies report earnings including IAG, Virgin Australia, Fairfax Media and Toll Holdings. In the US, data on weekly jobless claims and the FHFA home price index is released.