Morning traders. Thanks weekend loungers, especially @Ravgnome and @Patterns.
Outlook for the day: Highly positive following a sharp rebound on Wall Street.
ASX futures: up 64 points or 0.89%
Friday themes:
· The Dow has its best session in four months as Apple tops earnings expectations and solid job numbers soothe recession worries.
· Market heavyweight Apple jumps 4.69% to a nine-month high as resilient earnings ease concerns over a global economic slowdown.
· April jobs data comes in significantly stronger than expected (growth of 253,000 jobs vs 180,000 expected).
· "It's about the state of the U.S. economy, and what we saw today suggests it's in a better position than previously expected" - Kristina Hooper, Invesco chief global market strategist..
· Regional banks rebound after JPMorgan says several are "substantially mispriced". PacWest rallies 81.7%. Western Alliance gains 49.2%.
· All 11 US sectors rise. Gains range from 0.66% (utilities) to 2.75% (energy).
Key events this week:
· Australian business confidence, building approvals - 11.30 am AEST today
· Australian consumer sentiment - tomorrow
· US consumer inflation data - Wednesday
· Chinese inflation data - Thursday
· US wholesale inflation data - Thursday
· US consumer sentiment - Friday
S&P 500: up 75 points or 1.85%
Dow: up 547 points or 1.65%
Nasdaq: up 269 points or 2.25%
Dollar: down 0.12% to 67.51 US cents
Iron ore (Dalian): down 1% to US$100.93
Brent crude: up US$2.80or 3.86% to US$75.30
Gold: down US$30.90 or 1.5% to US$2,024.80
NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 0.64%%
Copper (LME): unavailable. Coronation Day
Nickel (LME): unavailable. Coronation Day.
Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 2.6%
BHP: up 4.49% (US); up 3.98% (UK)
Rio Tinto: up 3.56% (US); up 2.51% (UK)
