Australian market preview

The Australian market looks set to open flat.
At 0641 AEDT on Monday, the December share price index futures contract was UP one points at 4,182.
In economic news on Monday, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) assistant governor (financial markets) Guy Debelle is to deliver a speach to the Australian Securitisation Forum Conference.

The Australian sharemarket is expected to begin the week flat after mixed trading in the US and European markets ended last week in the red.
The effects of positive economic data from the US was being outweighed by worries about the eurozone debt crisis, CommSec chief economist Craig James said.

In Australia, the share market on Friday closed firmly in the red at its weakest level so far for the month as concern about the eurozone debt crisis continued to weigh on investors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 81.2 points, or 1.91 per cent, at 4,177 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 77.4 points, or 1.79 per cent, to 4,246.7 points.


The Australian sharemarket ended last week firmly in the red and is at its weakest level so far for the month as the borrowing and debt problems of Greece, Italy and others continued to weigh on investors.
With six weeks left in 2011, the Australian All Ordinaries was down by 11 per cent for the year and the ASX 200 was 10.5 per cent lower, Mr James said.