Market wrap: A solid night on global markets plus the prospect of end-of-financial-year window dressing by local fund managers point towards a strong session on the Australian market today.
The SPI futures market finished 45 points higher at 3897 this morning after gains in Europe and the US and a spike in the price of crude oil. The major European markets finished 1.25% (London) - 2.27% (Frankfurt) higher. In the USA, end-of-quarter buying helped the Dow add 1.07% and the S&P 0.91%. The gains were led by energy, financial and consumer stocks.
Crude oil futures burst back through $70 after an attack on a Nigerian oil platform. Oil hit an intraday high of $72.40 after two weeks of modest declines, recently settling back at $71.53, up more than 3%. Gold finished lower for the first session in five after a volatile night's trading as the US dollar fluctuated against its rivals. Gold was recently off $2.40 on yesterday's US close at $936.60.
Base metals were mixed, with copper closing at a two-week high, up 1.09% in London, but other key metals recording minor falls. Nickel lost 0.32%, aluminium 0.43%, zinc 1.33% and lead 0.29%.
The last day of the financial year is believed to be marked by buying by big institutions looking to improve the look of their holdings. (I'll be interested to hear if anyone has past June 30 figures that support/dismiss that theory?) There may be unusual moves today - got to be worth watching for window dressing and jumping on for the ride.
