ASX futures are pointing to a higher open as Wall St advanced in a relief rally triggered by a bounce in oil.

Key numbers:

• SPI futures up 67 pts or 1.4% at 4945
• AUD 69.79 US cents, 82.57 Japanese yen, 64.35 Euro cents and 48.49 British pence
• On Wall St, late, S&P 500 +2%, Dow +1.9%, Nasdaq +2.6%
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 -1.6%, FTSE -0.7%, CAC -1.8%, DAX -1.7%
• In London, BHP Billiton +6%, Rio Tinto +3.1%
• Spot gold -1.5% to $US1076.91 at 3.01pm in New York
• Brent crude +2.3% to $US31.00 at 2.29pm New York time
• Iron ore +1.8% to $US40.22

What’s on today:

Australia housing finance.

China December money supply

US December retail sales, December industrial production, producer prices, Empire State manufacturing, Michigan consumer sentiment, business inventories

Earnings: US Bancorp, BlackRock, Wells Fargo, Citigroup.

New York Fed chief William Dudley will speak.

Stocks in focus:

Brokerage firms Morgan Stanley and Citigroup have upgraded mining giant BHP Billiton. The miner was upgraded to “over-weight” from “equal-weight” by Morgan Stanley while CitiGroup changed the stock’s rating to “buy” from “neutral”.

Deutsche Bank maintains its “hold’ recommendation for Coca-Cola Amatil (ASX: CCL) and has a target price of $9.

Credit Suisse revises its investment rating to “outperform” for (ASX: JBH) and upgraded its target price to $25.05.

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