The Australian share market has received a mixed lead from Wall Street after caution once again overcame US investors.
Oil, copper and silver prices closed weaker on Friday, while the price of gold was higher.
The September share price index contract was steady at 3863 when it last traded on the Sydney Futures Exchange on Saturday morning.
What you need to know:
- On Wall Street on Friday night, the Dow fell 0.2 per cent while the broad-market S&P 500 advanced 0.3 per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 1.1 per cent for the session
- Miners could be boosted by news Xstrata has approached Anglo American over what could be an $84 billion merger
- The Australian dollar continues to trade above the 80-US-cent mark and was this morning buying 80.57 US cents
- Gold ended marginally higher on Friday. It is expected to trade in a tight range until mid-week
- Crude oil fell 2.5 per cent in offshore trade on Friday, back below the $US70 mark, as fuel supplies grew