The Australian market will open lower later this morning, after oil slumped sharply and U.S. stocks closed mostly weaker.

The S&P 500 and Dow industrials closed slightly lower, but the Nasdaq Composite finished in positive territory, supported by technology companies.

The SPI is down 24 point, at 5168.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s will hold a webcast briefing on its new Australian credit rating outlook.

In equities, mining giant BHP Billiton will provide an update on the Olympic Dam mine.

Key numbers:

• SPI futures down 24 points or 0.4% to 5168
• AUD -0.5% to 74.81 US cents, 75.40 Japanese yen, 67.66 Euro cents and 58.00 British pence
• On Wall St, Dow -0.1%, S&P 500 -0.1%, Nasdaq +0.4%
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 +0.7%, FTSE +1.1%, CAC +0.8%, DAX +0.5%
• Spot gold -0.3% to $US1360.155 an ounce
• Brent crude -4.9% to $US46.44 a barrel
• Iron ore -1.% to $US55.07 per tonne

What’s on today:

S&P to explain Australia ratings downgrade; Sovereign rating updates: European Union (Moody’s), Germany (S&P), Netherlands (Moody’s), Switzerland (Moody’s), UK (DBRS).

Stocks in focus:

Citi lifts Boral to ‘buy’ from ‘netural’ with a $6.80 target price.

Morgan Stanley lists CIMIC as ‘underweight’ with price target of $12.40.

QBE Insurance is a ‘buy’, according to Morgan Stanley with a target of $12.

Citi initiated coverage of WiseTech Global with a ‘buy’ and a price target of $5.52

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