Flat start in store for stocks Local stocks are poised to open little changed as mixed US corporate results keep investors wary of placing new bets. No economic reports are scheduled for release. Foster Stockbroking is backing recently listed Dick Smith Holdings to close the valuation gap between itself and listed peers JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman. Swiss trading house Gunvor Group is believed to be involved in a bid for Royal Dutch Shell's Australian downstream assets, and has been linked to Macquarie Group's consortium, according to the Street Talk column in The Australian Financial Review. Morningstar has an "accumulate" recommendation on Australia & New Zealand Banking Group and a $31.56 12-month price target. Macquarie Securities has downgraded Prime Media to "neutral" and retained an "outperform" recommendation on STW Communications. The greenback has slid, pressured by data showing a jump in US continuing jobless claims, but losses were viewed as temporary after two days of gains as the currency's uptrend remained intact. The dollar index, a measure of the greenback's value against six major currencies, fell 0.2 per cent to 80.884 . The euro rose 0.1 per cent to $US1.3619, while the dollar slid 0.3 per cent to 104.29 yen. Brent oil was steady in thin, choppy trade on Thursday as expectations of more supply from the Middle East and North Africa outweighed news of lower oil output from OPEC. Brent crude for February delivery was down 11 cents at $US107.02 a barrel at midday in New York (1733 GMT), after settling 74 cents higher on Wednesday. The contract expires at the end of trading on Thursday. Brent March crude oil was trading 19 cents lower at $US106.08 a barrel. Canada bluntly told the United States to settle the fate of TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline, saying the drawn-out process on whether to approve the northern leg of the project was taking too long. US stocks are lower, with the S&P 500 pulling back from record levels following a round of disappointing earnings as financial stocks led the way lower. Both Citigroup and Goldman Sachs Group reported quarterly profits hit by lower bond trading revenue, with Goldman's earnings falling 21 per cent and Citigroup's missing expectations. The stock of Best Buy plunged 27.6 per cent after the world's largest consumer electronics chain reported a drop in holiday sales and forecast a bigger-than-expected decline in quarterly operating margins. In the latest economic data, the consumer price index rose 0.3 per cent in December while the core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, edged up only 0.1 per cent. European equities edged lower to steady just below a 5-1/2-year high on Thursday, hit by a string of losses in the retail sector after corporate reports but receiving support from miners. Dutch retailer Ahold, Dixons and Primark owner AB Foods all dropped after earnings updates. Jens Weidmann, the president of Germany's Bundesbank, said there was no reason for "irrational inflationary fears" and dismissed suggestions of a danger of the euro zone falling into deflation, echoing the European Central Bank's outlook. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index surged 63.7 points, or 1.2 per cent to finish the day at 5309.1. The broader All Ordinaries index rose 63.9 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 5319.4. The materials sub-index was up 2.6 per cent at the close and energy gained 2.1 per cent. Goldminers also rose 3.5 per cent. All sub-indexes finished higher on Thursday. With the Australian dollar dropping a cent . . . all the miners make significantly more money. So the miners have continued to outperform and the banks become less attractive to overseas investors," Market Matters principal Shawn Hickman said.