The Aussie market is poised to open sharply lower following falls on Wall Street overnight amidst plunging oil prices.

The SPI is down 70 points at 4,872.

In local economic news today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is due to release December's building approvals figures and international trade in goods and services data for the same month.

The Australian Industry Group's Australian Performance of Services Index (PSI) for January is also expected.

No major equities news is expected, but South Australia premier Jay Weatherill helps launch Aldi's first store in the state.

Key Numbers:

• SPI futures down 70pts or 1.4% to 4872
• AUD at US70.46¢,84.57 Japanese yen, 64.56 Euro cents and 48.90 British pence
• On Wall St, late, S&P 500 -1.8%, Dow -1.9%, Nasdaq -2.4%
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 -2.3%, FTSE -2.3%, CAC -2.5%, DAX -1.8%
• In London, BP -8.7%, Anglo -7.99%, BHP -6.7%, Rio -4.6%
• Spot gold -0.1% to $US1127.61 at 2.56pm New York time
• Brent crude -4.2% to $US32.79 at 2.30pm New York time
• US oil -5.3% to $US29.92 at 2.30pm New York time
• Iron ore adds 1.9% to $US43.84 per tonne

What’s on today

New Zealand 4th Qtr jobless rate, Markit euro-zone services PMI January, Markit UK services PMI January, Markit US services PMI January, US ADP employment data. BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks in Kyodo. Earnings: Merck, Comcast, Apollo Global, GM, Mondelez Intl, Yum! Brands, Lundin Petroleum, ABB, Syngenta, GlaxoSmithKline

Stocks in focus

Global miners drop in wake of BHP downgrade. In London overnight, Anglo American fell 7.99 per cent in London, BHP shed 6.7 per cent, Glencore lost 5.5 per cent and Rio Tinto tumbled 4.6 per cent.

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