The Australian share market is set to continue its rally after Wall Street closed at record highs on Friday amid strong earnings, while commodities also performed well.
The Nasdaq hit a closing record, while the S&P500 hit an intraday all time high after tech stocks and materials charged ahead.
Stand out stocks include the Bank of America which gained 1.5 per cent on better-than-expected earnings. While Netflix gained 1.9 per cent, hitting an all-time high as investors snapped up the stock before it unveils its earnings this week.
On the commodities front, the iron ore price has surged up by 5 per cent, while the oil price jumped back above the US$51 mark.
US economic newsUS consumer prices rose 0.5 per cent in September, which is the biggest rise in eight months. It comes after gasoline prices soared in the wake of hurricane oil refinery disruptions. Despite that, the market expected a bigger gain.
US retail sales recovered after rising 1.6 per cent in September. Although it was less than the 1.7 per cent expected, the figure beat last month’s 0.2 per cent fall.
Local economic newsOn Monday ABS will reveal the lending finance for August.
On Tuesday, the RBA will release its board minutes from meeting held on October 3.
And RBA Assistant Governor, Luci Ellis will take part in a in a panel discussion at 9th Annual Australian & New Zealand Investment Conference.
The ABS will also give us a reading of new vehicle sales for September.
And on Thursday we will also learn about the job data for September, with expectations the unemployment rate will fall from 5.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
And closing out the week, the RBA Assistant Governor (of the Fin System), Michele Bullock, gives speech at Australian Shareholders Association Conference in Sydney.
Markets Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.13 per cent to close at 22,872, the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent to close at 2,553 and the NASDAQ gained 0.2 per cent to close at 6,606
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE fell 0.3 per cent, Paris lost 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt gained 0.1 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.1 per cent.
And back home, the Australian share market closed higher on Friday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 20 points up to finish at 5,814. The ASX200 gained 104 points last week.
On the futures market the SPI is 12 points up.
Company news Gold and base metal explorer and developer, S2 Resources
(ASX:S2R) says it received approvals for drilling at Pluto in Nevada with site preparation and drilling booked for late October. It also informed the market in its quarterly update that it’s well funded with cash and investments of $22.2 million. S2 Resources
(ASX:S2R) closed flat $0.16.
Vanguard All-World ex-US Shares ETF
(ASX:VEU) has announced it will be paying a distribution of 38.02 cents per unit (to Australian Chess holders) on 18 October 2017. Shares in Vanguard All-World ex-US Shares ETF
(ASX:VEU) closed flat at $68.51.
Ex-dividends6 companies are going ex-dividend today, including Programmed which is paying 16 cents fully franked and TPG Telecom
(ASX:TPM) which is paying 2 cents full franked.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:45AM was buying 78.90 US cents, 59.32 Pence Sterling, 88.20 Yen and 66.80 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has gained $8.10 to $US1,305 an ounce.
Silver has added $0.15 to $US17.41 an ounce.
Oil has gained $0.80 to $US51.73 a barrel.
