Aussie market points up despite weak leads

The Australian stock market has received mixed leads from offshore markets as investors grapple with the economic impact of a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the world's third-largest economy.
The disaster comes on top of last week's uncertainty over unrest spreading through the Middle East and the re-emergence of sovereign debt concerns in Europe.
The Australian share market suffered its worst weekly fall in just over nine months on Friday as sentiment was eroded by economic concerns in Europe and the United States.
But at 1530 AEDT, on the ASX 24, the March share price index futures contract was pointing eight points higher, at 4,639 points, with 17,136 contracts traded.
While US markets held up on Friday, with the Dow Jones rising half a per cent and the broader S&P 500 up 0.71 per cent, it wasn't enough to overcome the nearly two per cent drops the previous day in major indices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost one per cent for the week at 12,044.40, while the broader S&P 500 ceded 1.3 per cent at 1304.28.
The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite gave up 2.5 per cent to 2,715.61.
ICAP senior economist Adam Carr said investors were facing confusing times.
"It initially looked like the quake in Japan (reports of at least 1000 dead) and turmoil in the Middle East were going to cause havoc on global markets," he said.
"Certainly Asian markets were pummelled (on Friday) despite a great set of industrial production and retail numbers out of China."
Stocks in European re-insurance companies plunged on Friday as the massive earthquake in Japan slammed the sector less than three weeks after it was rocked by the deadly quake in New Zealand.
Re-insurance companies, which back up insurers and are among those hit early by catastrophes, stressed it was too soon to estimate the final cost, but "it will be an expensive event," said Christian Muschick at the private German bank Silvia Quandt.
Oil and commodity prices also tumbled, with New York crude oil back under $100 per barrel on Friday as traders bet that a massive earthquake in Japan would slash the country's crude imports.
In Australia on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index lost 54.9 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 4,644.8 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 56.5 points, or 1.18 per cent, to 4,734.8 points.
Both indices lost 4.5 per cent for the week, their largest losses since late May.
In news this week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is due to publish lending finance data for January, new motor vehicles sales for February and dwelling unit Commencements for the December quarter.
Reserve Bank of Australia will publish the minutes of its March monthly board meeting on Tuesday, while the Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading indexes of economic activity is due out on Wednesday.
The class action by 72 local councils and churches continues against Lehman Brothers Australia Ltd in the Federal Court.
Wesfarmers Ltd managing director Richard Goyder will address the Committee for Economic Development of Australia on Thursday.