Australian shares may gain between 15 and 20 points today, as the local market catches up with two solid Christmas week sessions on Wall Street.
Most signs were pointing to a positive opening, with oil and gold prices up on Friday night, CommSec's chief economist Craig James said.
''We've had two good sessions from Wall Street both up around 0.5 per cent and we're playing catch-up to the two trading sessions,'' he said.
''We did have a solid rally ahead of Christmas, but I think we could put on another 15 to 20 points.''
On Christmas Eve, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 50.8 points, or 1.44 per cent, at 3582.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 46.8 points, or 1.35 per cent, to 3515.0.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract was 63 points lower at 3587 on a volume of 14,311 contracts.
There will be only 312 days of trading this week because of the shortened trading day on December 31, and a public holiday on Thursday for New Year's Day.
Trading volumes would be very thin, more so than in past years, Mr James said.
''A lot of companies have ensured their employees take their leave this year, to try to get rid of the leave accrual off balance sheets.
''So we have got a lot more businesses that are closed down over the Christmas-January period,'' he said.
On Wall Street, the major indices made moderate advances in light post-Christmas trading on Friday after the finance arm of General Motors got a Government lifeline.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average firmed by 47.07, or 0.56 per cent, to 8515.55 after Thursday's market holiday.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 4.65, or 0.54 per cent, to 872.80, and the tech-laden Nasdaq composite index rose 5.34, or 0.35 per cent, to 1530.24.
The price of Brent crude oil lifted by $US1.76, or 4.81 per cent to $US38.37, while the spot price of gold put on $US23.20, or 2.74 per cent, to $US871.20 in New York.
In the week ahead, United States markets will be focused on tomorrow's issue of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index for October.
It is expected to show further falls in housing prices. US consumer confidence statistics for December will also be issued tomorrow, while the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index for December, assessing the state of US industry, will be issued on Friday.
In the local market, on Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia issues its private-sector credit data for November, and on Friday the Australian Industry Group issues its Performance of Manufacturing Index for December.
Commonwealth Bank economist James McIntyre said October private-sector credit data showed a slight rise in both housing and business lending.
But the pace of credit expansion remained weak.
Nonetheless, November's data was expected to show an improvement across both housing and business lending, with the ''massive improvement in housing sentiment''.
This would translate into an improvement in housing credit over the coming months, he said.
Cuts to interest rates of more than 300 basis points would also have boosted the attractiveness of debt, he said. AAP