Global markets were mixed overnight, as a quiet session on Wall Street was countered by a strong rally in Europe.

In a mostly range-bound session, US stocks were little changed as investors took their foot of the gas following the monster rally a day earlier.

Economic data did little to inspire sentiment, with unemployment claims unexpectedly rising last week and manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region growing less than expected in December.

The Dow added 11 points (+0.1%) to 16179, the S&P500 shed one point to 1810 and the Nasdaq slipped 12 points (-0.3%) to 4058.

There were big rallies on the major European indices as markets there played catch up after the Fed's decision to begin tapering stimulus.

The UK FTSE leapt 93 points (+1.4%) to 6585, the German DAX soared 154 points (+1.7%) to 9336 and the French CAC jumped 67 points (+1.6%) to 4177.

Gold was the big story in commodity markets, sinking to its lowest settlement in over three years. Bullion futures plummeted 3.3% to US$1194 an ounce.

The precious metal was crushed by speculation the Fed will gradually increase the size of its stimulus tapering in 2014 as economic conditions in the US continue to improve.

The US dollar was mixed against its major rivals, as traders weighed the Fed tapering decision against last night's mostly disappointing economic numbers.

There is no major economic data due for release today.

Morning Market Update: Quiet Night is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog