The offshore session overnight was a bit of a non-event. Volumes were also down on Wall Street given the Columbus Day public holiday. The small amount of movement came from a lift in the US dollar Index. This contributed to a fall in both the price of copper and of oil.

Banking stocks fell on Wall Street despite JP Morgan rising over 1 per cent. This may hurt our financial sector today - though the declines were more related to uncertainty surrounding regulatory changes which Australian bank are not really concerned about.

Gold continued to push higher last night. In fact it was a rare session that saw lighter volumes, a higher US dollar and higher gold. Given base metals were mixed overall, the market could struggle for direction early.

Japan's Nikkei 225 plays catch-up today. With the rest of Asia also open for business, and some key corporate earnings and economic news due out tomorrow, this afternoon could see some market movement.

The market's still trading cautiously, and I'm beginning to wander if the round of quantitative easing anticipated for November has not been largely factored into the market.

Also watch out for the results of the NAB business conditions and confidence surveys due out at 11:30 AEDT and any influence they may have on the Aussie dollar.