It was a disappointing finish on Wall Street Friday night, with most stocks declining amid mixed earnings results.

Concerns the market rally has run too far ahead of profit expectations were magnified after Intel issued a weak revenue outlook, and General Electric announced a lower-than-expected dividend.

Sentiment was not helped by data showing a slowdown in December industrial production and a bigger-than-expected drop in consumer confidence.

The Dow bucked the negative trend, however, thanks to credit card giant American Express, which rallied after revealing a surge in its quarterly profit.

The blue chip index rose 42 points (+0.3%) to 16459, whilst the S&P500 fell seven points (-0.4%) to 1839 and the Nasdaq shed 21 points (-0.5%) to 4198.

The disappointment over the US consumer sentiment read weighed on oil, as investors worried about the likely impact on energy demand. Oil futures slipped 0.2% to US$93.96 a barrel.

Conversely, gold strengthened 1% to US$1252 an ounce as the decline in US equities boosted the yellow metal's safe haven appeal.

The US dollar gained against most of its major counterparts, whilst the British Pound found support from data showing a surge in UK retail sales last month.

In economic news the Melbourne Institute Inflation Gauge is due for release today at 10:30am. The key focus for regional investors is the latest Chinese GDP numbers, due out at 1:00pm, AEDT.

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