SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - Australian share prices are expected to open lower Monday as investors react to a sell-off on Wall Street on Friday, though the resources sector is expected to find some support following last week's 3-for-1 scrip offer for Rio Tinto by BHP Billiton.
'That's where market attention will focus today -- particularly on arbitrage opportunities,' said Stuart Smith, a private client advisor at Bell Potter Securities.
BHP Billiton last week launched its offer in an attempt to become a 350 billion US dollar mining behemoth.
The wider market will continue to be influenced by gyrations on US markets in reaction to debt market problems, Smith said.
The S&P/ASX 200 December futures contract ended its overnight session down 78 points at 6,504, indicating at positive start to trading.
On Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 24.1 points or 0.4 percent higher at 6,545.7. For the week, it was down 150.9 points or 2.3 percent. The All Ordinaries index advanced 38.9 points or 0.6 percent to 6,607.4.
In New York, stocks ended the week with another large drop on concerns about the credit market crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 223.55 points or 1.7 percent to 13,042.79.
News Corp fell 2.0 percent.
In London, shares also fell on credit market concerns. The FTSE 100 fell 77 points or 1.2 percent to end at 6,304.9 on Friday.
BHP Billiton dropped 1.7 percent while Rio Tinto gained 6.2 percent on the back of BHP Billiton's takeover offer.
Crude oil prices lifted above 96 US dollars a barrel on Friday on concerns that heating oil will be in short supply in the northern hemisphere winter. The December Nymex crude oil contract ended up 86 cents at 96.32 US dollars a barrel.
Base metal prices closed mixed on the London Metal Exchange on Friday. Lead rose 2 percent and nickel rose 3.4 percent while other metals eased, with copper down 2.6 percent.
The gold price eased for the first time in six sessions on pre-weekend profit-taking. The December Comex gold contract ended down 2.80 dollars at 834.70 US dollar an ounce on Friday.
Ahead in Australia today, the nation's central bank releases its quarterly statement on monetary policy.
(1 US dollar = 1.11 Australian dollar)
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