US shares were mostly weaker on Friday night, with the S&P500 opening the new year with two consecutive losses - the first such time in nine years.

The mixed performance on Wall Street was triggered by conflicting messages from two key central bank officials regarding stimulus.

Although Ben Bernanke issued a defence of the Fed's accommodative monetary policy, Philadelphia Fed President, Charles Plosser, earlier warned interest rates may need to rise aggressively to ward off a surge in inflation.

The Dow climbed 29 points (+0.2%) to 16470, whilst the S&P500 shed one point (-0.1%) to 1831 and the Nasdaq let go of 11 points (-0.3%) to 4132.

Overall, it turned out to be a successful holiday period for global markets, which rallied particularly strongly during the final weeks of 2013.

Gold added 1.1% to US$1239 an ounce – its highest settlement in a month, as the uncertainty surrounding Fed stimulus tapering lured investors attracted by the metal's safe haven appeal.

Elsewhere, oil ended a horrendous week in which it tumbled more than 6%. Crude was pressured by a likely increase in Libyan production and data showing further gains in weekly US oil inventories.

The euro was the big loser in currency markets, dropping to a one month low against the greenback ahead of this week's European Central Bank meeting.

There is no major economic data due for release today.

Good morning team and welcome to Australian Stock Report's market coverage for 2014.

We hope you had a safe and enjoyable Christmas break watching the Aussies destroy England in the cricket.

The holiday period saw the SPI put on approximately 100 points.

When we left you late last year the index was trading around 5220 whilst this morning it sits around 5330.

Over the break a strong range formed, bound by obvious support at 5300 and resistance at 5350.

We're not inclined to rush in this morning and look for trades.

Like an Australian batsmen in the recent test series, we'd like to get our eye in (so to speak) before we start trying to hit boundaries.

Once we do have our eye in however, we'd be inclined to buy dips back into the 5300 region, unless and until that region fails as support.

So for this morning we'll watch from the sidelines but hopefully it won't be too long before we're hitting some Dave Warner like sixes.

Morning Market Update: Big Year Ahead is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog