SYDNEY - The Australian market looks set to open lower following falls on Wall Street overnight with investors unsettled by mixed economic data.

At 0922 AEST on Friday, the March share price index futures contract was down 12 points at 4,414.

In economic news on Friday, the Reserve Bank of Australia is scheduled to release its Statement on Monetary Policy following its cutting of the official interest rate by 50 basis points on Tuesday.

In equities news, the first directions hearing is expected in the Federal Court case against Macquarie Equities for alleged market manipulation of shares in Bill Express.

In Australia, the market on Thursday closed marginally lower on a day of low volumes as gains among finance-linked companies were offset by weakness in the energy sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 6.9 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 4,429 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index declined 10.3 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 4,494.5 points.

NEW YORK - Wall Street made a brief incursion into positive territory early Thursday, but spent the rest of the day in the red as trepidation about weak data sent markets into a spin.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 62 points with Hewlett-Packard, Bank of America, Intel and Caterpillar all taking a pummelling.

The Dow stood at 13,206.59 at the close.

The materials, energy and technology sectors were hardest hit.

The S&P 500 fell 10.74 points (0.77 per cent) to 1,391.57.

The Nasdaq was down slightly more, off 35.55 points (1.16 per cent) to 3,024.30.

The bond market was slightly down. The 10-year Treasury yield rose by a fraction to 1.92 per cent, while the 30-year was flat at 3.11 per cent.

LONDON - European stocks were little changed as the European Central Bank kept interest rates at record lows but gave no indication of when or if it may give the eurozone economy a further boost.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies edged up 0.15 per cent to close up 5,766.55 points on Thursday, while in Paris the CAC 40 slipped 0.09 per cent to 3,223.36 points and in Frankfurt the DAX 30 lost 0.24 per cent to 6,694.44 points.

Madrid's IBEX 35 index climbed 0.29 per cent after Spain managed to sell 2.52 billion euros in three- and five-year bonds, although at considerably higher rates.

France, however, raised 7.43 billion euros at lower rates in a closely watched auction of medium- and long-term bonds just three days ahead of the second round of the presidential election.

In Spain, a bond auction on Thursday resulted in the Madrid government paying sharply higher borrowing costs on three- and five-year debt.

HONG KONG - Asian markets have mostly fallen following more weak jobs data from the United States and Europe as well as figures showing euro zone manufacturing falling for a ninth straight month.

Seoul fell 0.20 per cent, or 3.94 points, to 1,995.13 and Hong Kong shed 0.28 per cent, or 59.55 points, to 21,249.53 while Shanghai clawed back early losses to end flat, edging up 1.64 points to 2,440.08.

Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.

WELLINGTON - The NZX 50 dropped 38.26 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 3576.70.