US stocks came off their highs after the US President Donald Trump axed two business advisory councils.
The move came after several chief executives stepped down because of Mr Trump's tepid response to violence by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia that left an anti-racism protestor dead.
Mr Trump announced the American Manufacturing Council and the Strategic and Policy Forum would be scrapped after a series of chief executives quit the panels.
Fed minutes lower greenback boost Aussie dollar
The greenback and bond yields fell on the news and again after the latest minutes from the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, came out.
The minutes showed that Fed policy makers were worried about weak inflation in the US and some called for no more interest rate rises until inflation picked up.
Inflation has remained below 2 per cent in the US for more than five years.
The minutes also indicated the Fed will soon start selling off some of its more than $US4 trillion bond portfolio. ANZ is tipping next month as when balance sheet reduction could start.
In an economic note, National Australia Bank's Tapas Strickland wrote that the market believes there is only about a one-in-three chance of the Fed raising interest rates again this year.
"On the minutes, while 'most' FOMC members still expect inflation to pick up over the next couple of years, 'many' still see some likelihood that inflation might remain below 2 per cent for longer than they currently expect and 'several' indicate that the risks could be tilted to the downside," he observed.
"It's clear from this that the FOMC is split on the trajectory for near term inflation and that the Fed will be monitoring inflation developments 'closely'."
Mr Strickland said the disbanding of President Trump's business councils came as a surprise.
"For the market, it's another reason why Trump's policy agenda is going nowhere fast soon — a point also made in the Fed minutes, where several participants noted uncertainty was tending to weight down firms' spending and hiring plans," he added.
The prospect of no more interest rises in the US for some time sparked a sell-off of the greenback which has boosted the Australian dollar.
It jumped more than one cent overnight from around 78.25 US cents to about 79.30 as the US currency fell.
Spot gold also gained against the weaker greenback, but oil prices edged down despite stockpiles in the US dropping by the most in a year.
Profit reports and jobs to move local market
It is a big day of profit results in Australia with investment bank Morgan Stanley calling it the biggest day of reporting season in terms of major players on the market.
Telstra is expected to churn out an annual profit close to $4 billion with the focus likely to be the future of its generous dividend in the face of falling sales.
Other key results out today include retail and mining conglomerate Wesfarmers, insurer QBE, the stock market operator ASX, Treasury Wine Estates, hearing device maker Cochlear, property firm Mirvac and miner Whitehaven Coal.
Australia's latest employment figures are also released from the Bureau of Statistics at 11:30am (AEST).
The national jobless rate is expected to stay steady at 5.6 per cent with 20,000 jobs forecast to have been created in July.
