US markets opened the new trading week with more losses overnight amid uncertainty over when the Fed will begin tapering stimulus.

Wall Street was in a downbeat mood from the get go following Friday night's comments from two Fed Presidents, both arguing in favour of drawing down stimulus fairly soon.

It was the third losing session in a row for the Dow and S&P500, with investors also having to contend with a mixed batch of global manufacturing data.

China's factory output expanded at a faster than expected pace in September, but that was countered by a slowdown in the manufacturing sectors of Europe and the US.

The Dow Jones shed 50 points (-0.3%) to 15401, the S&P500 slipped eight points (-0.5%) to 1702 and the Nasdaq declined 10 points (-0.3%) to 3765.

There was mostly red in commodity markets, with oil tumbling 1.1% to US$103.59 a barrel and now down around four percent over the past three sessions.

There were no safe haven flows into gold, with bullion sliding another 0.5% to US$1327 an ounce amid speculation the Fed will reduce stimulus by the end of the year.

The greenback was weaker against most of its major rivals, including the Aussie, which reclaimed the 94 US cent handle on the back of yesterday's upbeat Chinese manufacturing numbers.

There is no major economic data due for release today

Morning Market Update: Uncertainty Weighs is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog