The Australian market is poised to open flat later this morning despite Wall Street falling overnight on poor Black Friday sales and a China manufacturing slowdown.

The December SPI contract is up four points, at 5216, and respite could come in the form of a rally in local gold and oil producers after the two commodities rallied overnight.

US sales came in less than forecast for Black Friday, while China's official purchasing managers' index fell from 50.8 in October to 50.3 in November, the weakest level since March.

In local economic news on today, the Reserve Bank of Australia holds its monthly board meeting and makes its interest rate decision.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics releases October building approvals figures, plus Australia's balance of payments and international investment position and government finance statistics, both for the September quarter.

Also due out are the Dun & Bradstreet expectations survey and the ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence survey.

No major equities news is expected.

Key numbers:

– SPI futures up 4 pt at 5216

– AUD at 85.11 US cents, 100.74 Japanese yen, 68.23 Euro cents and 54.09 British pence

– Late on Wall St, S&P 500 -0.7%, Dow -0.2, Nasdaq -1.4%

– In Europe, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.6%, FTSE -1%, CAC -0.3%, DAX -0.2%

– Spot gold surges 3.8% to $US1212.00 an ounce

– Brent oil jumps 2.8% to $US72.11 per barrel

– Iron ore slips 0.3% to $US71.11 per metric tonne

What's on today:

Australia ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence survey, Reserve Bank monthly board meeting and interest rate decision, building approvals, balance of payments; New Zealand ANZ commodity prices; US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen speech.

Stocks to watch:

Energy companies.

In Europe, mining shares dropped, falling along with copper prices which tumbled to a 4 1/2-year low. BHP Billiton fell 2.2 per cent and Rio Tinto dropped 1.2 per cent.

Nick Caley, analyst at Baillieu Holst, upgraded Aristocrat Leisure to a "buy" with a revised price target of $7.50 a share from $6.90 previously after it reported results.

Credit Suisse upgraded Dexus Property Group to "neutral" from "underperform" with a $7.21 target price.

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