Alcoa Inc.

Wall Street closed flat yesterday after the market rallied for two days. Traders turned cautious before the third quarter earnings kick off. Alcoa (NYSE:AA), the first company to unveil its earnings, posted a better-than-expected result with third quarter net income of US$77 million, after three consecutive quarters of losses.

The Australian market yesterday closed flat as traders were cautious about the economic outlook. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose one point, or 0.03 per cent, at 3767.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index declined 1.8 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 3766.0 points. Today investors' focus would be the unemployment rate released by ABS.