Australian market set to open lower

THE Australian market looks set to open lower after Wall Street fell with the Dow Jones industrial average suffering its worst day since February as feeble quarterly reports undermined confidence across the consumer sector.

At 0645 AEST on Thursday, the share price futures index was down 34 points at 5,326.

The biggest drag on the Dow, Disney dropped 4.04 per cent after it posted a rare earnings miss.

Locally, in economic news on Thursday, Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor (Financial System) Malcolm Edey is slated to speak at the Cards and Payments Australia conference in Melbourne. In equities news, Myer is expected to release third quarter results and Optus fourth quarter figures.

AMP and Westfield Corporation have their annual general meetings.

And, Shark Mitigation Systems is due to make its debut on the ASX.

In Australia, the market on Wednesday was pushed higher by gains in energy and resource stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 29.5 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 5372.3 points.

The broader All Ordinaries index gained 30.9 points, or 0.57 per cent, at 5434.8 points.