The ASX 200 seems to be ignoring a cautious Wall Street, expected to open 0.36% higher – though things may change as U.S. trade wraps up.

Investors in the States played it safe by taking profits before the Thanksgiving break.

(A reminder: U.S. markets will be closed through Thursday for the holiday.)

These defensive moves saw the S&P 500 snap a seven-day winning streak, down 0.38%, while the Dow Jones (-0.3%) and the Nasdaq composite (-0.6%) were dragged down by poorer outlooks from computer giants HP and Dell.

Back home, the RBA is in the headlines again with Michele Bullock pencilled in to speak at the annual CEDA conference dinner at 7.55pm Sydney time tonight.

There’s a buzz around lithium miners on HotCopper forums too after the Western Australian government committed to helping companies struggling in the sector; that help will come in the form of a $150M funding package.

Miners hit hardest by the downturn have Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR), Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), and several more.

The deal will run for two years, when the WA Gov’t tips lithium to bounce back.

Casino operator The Star Entertainment Group (ASX:AGR) will face increasingly annoyed shareholders at its AGM today; more ‘turnaround plans’ may be spruiked.

Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG) will be teaming up with Queensland insurance group RACQ in a deal valued at $855M. IAG will take control of 90% of RACQ’s underwriting business with the last 10% boiled in as a future buy option.

Elsewhere, healthcare manufacturer Fisher & Paykel (ASX:FPH) today posted growth in both its profits and revenue through the last half-year (to September). The jump, CEO Lewis Gradon said, was driven by new products.

Looking at forex, the Aussie dollar is buying 64.9 US cents.

To commodities, which are in the greenback,

Iron Ore has edged up to $102.06 a tonne in Singapore,

Brent Crude is trading at $72.83,

Gold is trading at $2,637 per ounce, and, 

US natgas futures are at $3.19 per gigajoule.

That’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre, stick with us for HotCopper’s Market Update.