International equity markets were mixed on Friday night, as a compromise is yet to be reached by US lawmakers to avert the looming fiscal cliff. President Obama and House Speaker Boehner are still in the process of negotiations with substantial progress yet to be reported.

The UK's FTSE shed eight points (-0.1%) to settle at 5922 whilst Germany's DAX climbed 14 points (+0.2%) to settle at 7596. France's CAC traded flat to settle at 3643.

In the US, the Dow Jones lost 36 points (-0.3%) to settle at 13135 whilst the S&P declined six points (-0.4%) to settle at 1414. The Nasdaq fell 21 points (-0.7%) to settle at 2971.

In the commodity space, crude oil for January delivery climbed $0.84 (+1%) to settle at $86.73 a barrel after a preliminary scan of China's purchasing managers' index reported a higher-than-expected result of 50.9 for the month of December. Gold for February delivery traded flat to settle at $1697 an ounce.

In the currency space, the Japanese yen fell against the US dollar just before the nation's elections and after the BoJ mentioned that the Tankan index for large corporations fell to its lowest since March 2010.

Today will see RBA Assistant Governor Debelle Speak (11:00am, AEDT).

Morning Market Update: Soft Start Ahead is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog