International equity markets finished with mixed results overnight after the US senate did not approve of proposals to avert $85 billion worth of budget cuts - otherwise known as the 'sequester'.

In Europe, equities were given a boost after ECB President, Mr. Mario Draghi, mentioned that there is no need at present to tighten monetary policies.

In the US, equities were affected towards the end of the trading session as investors prepared for the rebalancing of the indices. The UK's FTSE climbed 35 points (+0.6%) to settle at 6361 whilst Germany's DAX increased 66 points (+0.9%) to settle at 7742. France's CAC rose 32 points (+0.9%) to settle at 3723.

In the US, the Dow Jones declined 21 points (-0.2%) to settle at 14055 whilst the S&P shed one point (-0.1%) to settle at 1515. The Nasdaq decreased two points (-0.1%) to settle at 3160.

In the commodity space, oil finished lower on the back of concerns the IMF will reduce its growth prospects for the US after the Senate approved the budget cuts.

Crude oil for April delivery shed $0.71 to settle at $92.05 per barrel. Gold finished lower due to market optimism after it was reported that US jobless claims in the past week totalled 344,000, lower than the median estimate of 360,000.

Gold futures for April delivery fell 1.1% to settle at $1,578.10 per ounce. In the currency space, the Japanese yen fell against the euro and the US dollar due to expectations that the next BoJ governor will be Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda.

The euro fell against the US dollar on the back of the ECB President's comment. The US dollar finished stronger against the euro after statistical data showed that the PMI in Chicago beat analyst estimates as it increased to 56.8 in the past month from 55.6 in January.

Moreover, the US economy expanded at a 0.1% annual rate, better than the expected 0.1% contraction. Today will see the release of the commodity price data (4:30pm, AEDT).

Morning Market Update: Mixed Results Overnight is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog