The Dow Jones was down 603 points or 2.1 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 58 points or 1.8 per cent and the NASDAQ was down by 148 points or 1.6 per cent at the close on Friday.

“We expect to see declines in the order of that magnitude when the Australian market opens on Monday,” CommSec chief economist Craig James told AAP on Sunday.

“The futures are pointing to a fall of 119 points or 1.7 per cent at the start of trade

“We’re going to play follow the leader with the US,” he said.

Mr James said investors were also watching the coronavirus and its impact across the globe.

“The markets seem to have digested the news fairly well

“I don’t think investor are getting too gloomy

“They still believe the coronavirus and the sort of steps being made around the world are going to make this more of a short term dislocation rather than longer-term,” he said.

Despite this, Mr James said the Chinese travel bans will have a significant short term impact on the Australian economy.

However, he attributed Friday’s falls to a “pause” for profit-taking following a positive start to the year.

“Investors didn’t’ want to get too far ahead of themselves,” he said.

The ASX has held up better than most markets around the world, however.

“One reason may be the lower Aussie dollar may be providing a degree of support of export markets,” he said.

The week ahead kicks off with “super Monday” when data on Australian home prices, building approvals and job adverts will be released.

The Reserve Bank board meets on Tuesday. This will be followed by bank governor Philip Lowe’s speech on Wednesday and the quarterly statement of monetary policy on Friday.

“It’s certainly Reserve Bank-centric over the week,” Mr James said

US employment figures will be released on Friday.

“There is a lot to digest,” he said