It was a disappointing finish to the week for international markets, with most major indices backtracking on Friday night amid fears over slowing global growth.

European equities were under pressure from the get go after data revealed eurozone inflation climbed at a slower-than-expected pace last month, raising the threat of price deflation.

Not helping matters was data out of the US that showed personal income growth was flat in December, dimming the outlook for consumer spending growth.

The Dow slumped 150 points (-0.9%) to 15699, the S&P500 shed 11 points (-0.6%) to 1783 and the Nasdaq let go of 19 points (-0.5%) to 4104.

It has been nightmare start to 2014 for investors, with the Dow Jones tumbled a whopping 5% during the month of January.

There was mostly red in commodity markets, with oil retreating alongside equities on concerns the emerging market turbulence will dent global energy demand.

Gold also weakened, but managed to record a gain of 3% in January as investors piled back into the precious metal amid rising global volatility.

The US dollar logged widespread gains versus other currencies, whilst the euro was pressured by speculation the ECB will expand monetary stimulus following the unexpected drop in eurozone inflation.

In economic news, domestic building approvals data and the ANZ Job Advertisements Survey are both due for release at 11:30am, AEDT.

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