Good morning traders, and happy Friday. Thanks @ttward, @Ravgnome & the aftermarket loungers. The ASX is closed for Queens Birthday on Monday, so have a fine long weekend if you are one of the lucky ones that have it off.

… and please don’t turn up on Monday asking where the thread is and why the ASX isn’t open.

ASX Market Report

The ASX 200 rose for a third time in a row on the back of more positive lead from the U.S., where speculation around potential rate cuts has reached fever pitch. The benchmark index was up 24.5 points 0.39% to 6,383.

All sectors bar mining and energy were positive after weak iron ore prices dragged the former down, and weak oil prices were a drag the latter. BHP dropped 49c or 1.31% to $37.05, and Rio Tinto fell $2.79 or 2.8% to $96.72.

Carnarvon Petroleum (CVN) rose 3.7 per cent to 56c after a second appraisal well successfully confirmed their Dorado oil discovery as a "major oil and gas resource".

The defensive utilities and property sectors were the big gainers, both rising over two percent. The top gainer in utilities was APA Group, which rose 3.07%, and the top gainer in real estate was Charter Hall Group (CHC) which rose 5.08% to $10.96.

In the tech sector, Wisetech Global (WTC) gained 5.71% after an investor briefing highlighting how its logistics software is used by 12,000 logistics companies around the world. At the other end of the scale, Afterpay (APT) fell 1.88% after disclosing in the latest business update that financial regulators had raised some issues about the company's compliance with Australia's anti-money-laundering/counter-terrorism financing rules.

At 7am AEST the Aussie dollar was buying 0.6976 USD, 0.5488 GBP, 0.6185 EUR, 75.66 JPY, and 1.053 NZD

The ASX 200 futures were pointing towards a 33 points or 0.52% rise.

Global Markets Report

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.17% after Donald Trump issued a fresh threats to hit China with tariffs on at least another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. The Japan’s Nikkei closed flat, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.26%, and Korea’s Kospi was up 0.1%.

The European markets started well but gave back those gains, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 closing flat. The DAX was down 0.23%, the FTSE 100 was up 0.55%, and thge CAC 40 fell 0.26%.

The U.S. markets rallied higher after reports came out that the white house was considering delaying imposing tariffs on Mexico. The Dow rallied 181.09 points or 0.71% to 25,720.66, the S&P 500 rose 17.34 points or 0.67% to 2,843.49, and the Nasadaq was up 40.08 points or 0.53% to 7,615.55.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. dollar against six major currencies, was down 0.3% to 97.01.

WTI crude futures rose 1.8%% to $52.59 a barrel, and Brent crude futures rose 1.7% to $61.67 a barrel.

The spot gold price carried on with it’s 7^th successive day of rises, with it up another 0.39% to $1,335.4

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