The Australian market looks set to open higher later this morning, following strong gains on overseas markets overnight and rises in commodity prices.

The March SPI futures contract is up 41 points, at 5384.

Eurozone stocks were boosted by reports that the ECB may launch a bigger stimulus program than expected, while British equities moved higher on falling unemployment.

In local economic news, the Housing Industry Association releases new home sales data for November.

In equities news, medicinal cannabis company Phytotech lists on the Australian stock exchange.

Key numbers:

• SPI futures up 39 pts at 5383
• AUD at 80.90 US cents, 95.40 Japanese yen, 69.79 Euro cents and 53.49 British pence
• In late trade, S&P 500 +0.2%, Dow flat, Nasdaq flat
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 +0.8%, FTSE +1.6%, CAC +0.9%, DAX +0.4%
• Spot gold down 0.1% $US1294.92 an ounce
• Iron ore slips 0.5% to $US67.81 per metric tonne
• Brent oil up 1.4% to $US48.67 per barrel

What’s on today:

HIA November new home sales, ABS January consumer price index, European Central Bank rates decision and details of expected changes to quantitative easing program, US initial jobless claims, US: Verizon, Starbucks quarterly profit.

Stocks to watch:

Qantas Airways, which delayed an expansion of its international fleet when it faced financial difficulties, could be back in growth mode later this year with a firm order for Boeing 787-9 aircraft to be delivered from 2017.

JPMorgan is overweight on Iluka Resources and has a $6.29 target price.

JPMorgan has a “neutral” recommendation on ASX Ltd and a $36.30 target price. In a preview of the exchange’s first-half result on February 12: “We are forecasting ASX 1H15E normalised NPAT of A$197.9m and an interim dividend of A$0.93 per share, in line with consensus.”

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