The Australian market looks set to open higher later this morning, after Wall Street moved higher overnight following US President Barack Obama's proposed $US4.0 trillion budget loaded with spending and tax reforms.

The March share price index futures contract is up 44 points, at 5617.

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

The Australian Bureau of Statistics releases building approvals and international trade in goods and services data, both for December The Dun and Bradstreet business expectations survey and the ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence survey are due out.

In equities news, Navitas is expected to post half year results.

Key numbers:

• SPI futures up 44pts at 5617
• AUD at 78.11 US cents, 91.63 Japanese yen, 68.89 Euro cents and 51.98 British pence.
• On Wall St in late trade, S&P 500 flat, Dow +0.2%, Nasdaq -0.3%
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 +0.6%, FTSE +0.5%, CAC +0.5%, DAX +1.3%
• Spot gold down $US3.59 or 0.3% to $US1280.20 an ounce
• Brent oil up $US1.63 or 3.1% to $US54.62 per barrel
• Iron ore adds 0.4% to $US62.45 per metric tonne.

What’s on today:

Australia: trade balance, building approvals, Reserve Bank board meeting;

New Zealand: house prices; Eurozone PPI;

US: factory orders.

Stocks to watch:

Macquarie has an “outperform” on Sirius Resources and a price target of $3.40 a share. “Commencing construction just two and a half years from the discovery of Nova is impressive,” Macquarie writes in a report to clients.

Bell Potter initiates coverage on Medibank Private with a “buy” call and a 12-month target price of $2.63 a share.

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