SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - Australian shares are expected to open slightly lower Monday as investors are expected to stay on the sidelines due to a long weekend in the US.
'It will be a little directionless today with little guidance from overseas markets,' said Stuart Smith, a private client advisor at Bell Potter Securities.
He said the market appears to be consolidating at lower levels and could break out above the 5,700 level were it not for activities of short sellers and hedge funds.
The S&P/ASX 200 March futures contract ended its last session down 7 points at 5,612, suggesting a weak start to trading.
On Friday, share prices ended a volatile week lower. The S&P/ASX 200 closed down 78.2 points or 1.4 percent at 5,606.6. For the week, the benchmark index was down 51.4 points or 0.9 percent.
The All Ordinaries finished 68.4 points or 1.2 percent lower at 5,679.8.
In New York, share prices closed lower after a weak reading on consumer sentiment.
Consumer sentiment, as measured by the Reuters/University of Michigan index, fell in February to a level not seen since recessions in the last three decades. The early February reading dropped 11 percent from the prior month to 69.6, the lowest since February 1992.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 28.77 points or 0.2 percent at 12,348.21.
News Corp gained 0.5 percent after a four day losing streak.
US markets will be closed Monday for Presidents Day.
In London, the market ended the week down as economic concerns weighed on sentiment.
The FTSE 100 index fell 91.7 points or 1.6 percent to 5,787.6.
BHP Billiton fell 1.0 percent and Rio Tinto dropped 1.1 percent.
Crude oil prices were little changed on Friday. The weak consumer confidence survey reinforced views that US oil demand would slow. OPEC has lowered its estimate of first quarter demand by 130,000 barrels to 87.19 million barrels per day. The March Nymex crude oil quote rose by 4.0 US cents to 95.50 dollars a barrel.
Base metal prices ended mixed on Friday as investors weighed up weak US economic data against low metal inventories. Copper gained 0.7 percent but zinc slid 1.6 percent and lead dropped 1.5 percent.
Gold prices fell on Friday on news that gold demand fell 17 percent in the December quarter as jewellers and investors baulked at paying higher prices. The most-active April Comex gold contract fell 4.70 dollars to 906.10 dollars an ounce.
(1 US dollar = 1.10 Australian dollars)
bruce.hextall@thomson.com - bhx/ng COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.