It was a mixed night for international markets, with losses in Europe countered by gains in the US.

In Europe, the FTSE shed 26 points (-0.5%) to settle at 5410, whilst the CAC (-0.8%) also lost ground but the DAX added 0.3%.

Stateside, the Dow Jones added 180 points (+1.6%) to settle at 11577, whilst the broader S&P 500 added 2% and the Nasdaq gained 1.6%.

It was a volatile night in the US, with conflicting reports on Europe's debt crisis whipping prices around towards the end of the session.

In the final hour of trade The Guardian reported France and Germany has agreed to increase the size of the rescue package to more the 2 trillion euros.

The report was almost immediately contradicted however, by the Dow Jones newswire which reported that officials are still debating the size of the fund and that the reports of 2 trillion euros were 'totally wrong'.

The euro rose amid renewed optimism eurozone leaders will agree on measures to ease the region's debt troubles at this weekend's summit, whilst the Canadian dollar strengthened against the greenback on easing concerns the US - Canada's major trading partner - is headed for recession.

Crude oil rose to its highest level in more than a month, adding 2.3% to settle at US$88.35 a barrel, whilst gold shed 1.4% to settle at US$1653 an ounce.

Today's session will bring us the latest Melbourne Institute leading index reading, at 10:30am, AEDT.