IG Markets Morning Prices

Good morning,

On Wall St overnight, US stocks clawed back from early weakness to post modest gains after a swathe of economic data came in mostly lower. The Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to 4.1 in August from 7.1 in July, slightly lower than expected while industrial production was 0.2%, down from a revised 0.6% in July and in line with forecasts.

Once again, the NASDAQ was the top performer, rising 0.5% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both added 0.4%.

Locally, the ASX 200 is called to open 0.1% firmer at 4666 following the solid end to US trade.

It looks like we could see some weakness from the heavily weighted materials sector after the US basic materials fell 0.3% overnight. Leads from the London Metals Exchange were all lower, down between 0.4% and 1.7%. In normal London trade, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were both flat, although BHP Billiton's ADR is calling the locally listed entity 0.8% weaker at the open.

Potentially offsetting that could be some minor gains among the financials after their US peers were well supported, up 0.3%. We're likely to also see some support coming through from the healthcare sector after it was the best performer in the overnight session, adding 0.9% following positive broker comments.

Elsewhere, there could be see some weakness among energy names after Crude Oil futures retreated 0.8% to $75.73 overnight, and US oilers lost ground.

In summary, it looks like a flat to slightly firmer open for the local market. All eyes will be on how the Japanese market opens following further weakness in the yen overnight and rumours of a second round of intervention. Strength in the Nikkei is likely to help support markets across the region.