The local share market is expected to defy a weak lead from global markets and start its day on a high.The Australian dollar was weaker at 71.2 US cents, 54.5 British pence and 63.22 euro cents.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank will release its semi-annual Financial Stability Review today, with bank lending and household indebtedness are likely to be under the microscope. On Wall Street, investors traded cautiously ahead of earnings season, as some of the major US banks, including Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase, will unveil their results on Friday .
Markets analysts are expecting first-quarter profits for S&P 500 companies to fall, on average, by 2.5 per cent, their first contraction since 2016. The main US indices struggled for direction, trading in a narrow range and drifting into the red for much of the session.The benchmark S&P 500 finished off where it started at 2,888 points, weighed down by health care stocks.