The Aussie market is poised to open slightly higher later this morning, despite global equities declining modestly overnight as a pullback in oil prices due to rising inventories dampened investor enthusiasm while the dollar rose as data revived confidence in the US economy.

Major US equities indexes were little changed. The S&P 500 was pressured by a 1.8 per cent drop in energy shares.

US consumer prices in January posted their biggest drop since 2008 as gasoline prices continued to tumble, but underlying inflation rose modestly.

The MSCI All-Country World equity index was down 0.13 per cent after having hit a record high of 434.40 points earlier in the trading day.

The dollar rose to a one-month high against a basket of currencies after the rise in core inflation and data showing a rise in US durable goods orders supported bets that the Federal Reserve will raise interests rates in the middle of the year.

The president of the San Francisco Fed, John Williams, in an interview on Fox Business Network on Thursday, said the Fed will probably start raising interest rates "sometime this summer, or this fall" as inflation bottoms out and begins to recover.

Key numbers:

• SPI futures up 10pts at 5888
• AUD at 77.86 US cents, 93.17 Japanese yen, 69.67 Euro cents and 50.63 British pence
• In late trade, S&P 500 -0.2%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq +0.3%
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 +0.9%, FTSE +0.2%, CAC +0.6%, DAX +1.04%
• Spot gold up $US4.19 or 0.4% to $US1209.19 an ounce
• Brent oil down $US1.09 or 1.8% to $US60.54 per barrel

What’s on today:

Australia: private sector credit;

US: economic growth, pending home sales.

Stocks to watch

Earnings expected: Woolworths, Harvey Norman, Treasury Wine Estates, Cabcharge.

Aristocrat Leisure annual general meeting.

Deutsche Bank cut STW Communications to “hold” with a target price of 85¢. “SGN delivered a disappointing operating result missing downwardly revised mid-December guidance by about 5 per cent, highlighting the tough market conditions. We have materially downgraded our near term earnings forecasts on the back of the weaker result and uncertain outlook.

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