Australia

Australian shares are positioned to open lower after US CPI data caused Wall Street to fall overnight.

ASX futures are down 50 points or 0.7%.

The US consumer price index increased 3.4% in the latest reading released overnight. This was higher than expected and many market commentators believe it will mean a prolonged period of higher interest rates.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil rose 1.10% to $US76.86 a barrel, Gold was slightly down to $US2,025.76 and Iron ore fell over 1% to $US138.16 a tonne.

In local bond markets, yields on Australian 2 Year government bonds are at 3.867% and the 10 Year yield was mostly flat at 4.12%. Overseas, the US Treasury notes yields fell, with the yield on 2 Year at 4.268% and the 10 Year yield falling to 3.983%

The Australian dollar fell to .6673 US cents. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies was up at 102.45.

Asia

Chinese shares rebounded with Shanghai up .31% and Hong Kong climbing 1.27%. Shares in Japan continued their climb with the Nikkei up 1.77%.

Europe

Major European markets fell led by a drop in London of close to 1% with Frankfort falling .86% and Paris down .52%.

North America

US shares slipped after the highest CPI reading in three months. The S&P 500 dropped .17%, the Nasdaq down .12% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling .04%.