The Aussie market is poised for a third consecutive losing session today, after U.S. markets lost ground overnight and oil continued its recent slide.

After opening sharply higher, the Dow turned negative as oil continued to be hammered to fresh lows.

Oil hit a near six-year low as the United Arab Emirates defended OPEC's decision not to cut output. Brent crude sank 3.8% and US crude lost 2%, extending Monday's 4.7% drop.

If oil closes down on the week, it would mark its eighth straight weekly drop.

Energy shares fell in the United States, the main driver for Wall Street.

The recent weakness in the commodity has been a major contributor to both volatility and weakness in stocks. The S&P 500 is coming off a two-week decline and turned negative overnight, after rising as much as 1.4%.

MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

– The Dow closed down 0.2%, the S&P 500 lost 0.4% and the Nasdaq shed 0.2%.

– At the close, the Stoxx 50 gained 1.61%, the FTSE 100 was up 0.6%, the CAC 400 added 1.5% and the DAX advanced 1.6%.

– SPI futures are down 20 points to 5333.

– The AUDUSD is trading at US$81.65, compared with Tuesday's local close of US$81.56.

Key numbers:

• SPI futures down 20 pts at 5333
• AUD at 81.57 US cents, 95.93 Japanese yen, 69.25 Euro cents and 53.78 British pence.
• S&P 500 -0.5%, Dow -0.3%, Nasdaq -0.3%
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 +1.6%, FTSE +0.6%, CAC +1.5%, DAX +1.6%
• Spot gold up 0.8% to $US1234.35 an ounce
• Iron ore slips 2.2% to $US68.74 per metric tonne
• Brent oil topples 3.6% to $US45.73 per barrel

What’s on today

Australia job vacancies, Euro zone industrial production; US trade prices.

Stocks to watch

Credit Suisse has an ‘underperform’ rating and a $9.00 target price on Westfield Group.

Macquarie Wealth Management has an ‘outperform’ rating on Alumina and a $2.10 target price.

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