Local shares are set to fall at the open, extending Tuesday’s losses, as global equities retreated from record highs overnight.

U.S. stocks retreated Tuesday, a day after the Nasdaq Composite rose above 5000 for the first time in nearly 15 years.

Traders said the decline in equities was to be expected as it came a day after the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 index closed at all-time highs and the Nasdaq Composite rose above the 5000 level for the first time since March 2000.

Key numbers:

• SPI futures down 13pts at 5910
• AUD at 78.21 US cents, 93.63 Japanese yen, 69.97 Euro cents and 50.90 British pence
• In late trade, S&P 500 -0.4%, Dow -0.5%, Nasdaq -0.6%
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 -1.2%, FTSE -0.7%, CAC -1%, DAX -1.1%
• Spot gold down $US3.17 or 0.26% to $US1203.66 an ounce
• Brent oil up $US1.52 or 2.55% to $US61.06 per barrel

What’s on today:

Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its Q4 gross domestic product report at 11:30am AEDT, Aig Performance of Services index, Bank of Canada monetary policy decision, US ADP employment report, US Federal Reserve Beige Book.

Stocks to watch:

The following stocks will trade ex dividend today: Ashley Services, Austock, Beach Energy, CVC, Century Australia Investments, Coventry Group, Energy Developments, HRL Holdings, Independence Group, Mantra Group, Pacific Energy, Pact Group Holdings, Pro Medicus, Pulse Health, QBE Insurance Group, Rio Tinto, SAI Global, SpeedCast International, Watpac, Wellcom Group, Wide Bay Australia, Nib holdings.

Deutsche Bank has a “buy” rating on Orica but has cut its target price to $26.25 a share, saying in a broker’s note that it saw “the completion of the sale of the Chemicals business to Blackstone for $750m (net $620-650m) and $400m share buyback program as positive”.

UBS has a “buy” rating on Macquarie Group and a revised price target of $79, up from the previous $64.

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