The Australian equities are pointed for a positive start to the day after a volatile US session overnight which saw stocks pushed higher in late trade as investors grow some confidence that the European leaders commitment to preventing a banking crisis and Chinese purchases of euro-zone debt could help resolve the region’s sovereign debt woes.
The Dow rose 162.42 points to close the trading day at 11869.04 while the S&P500 index gained 12.95 points to finish the session at 1242.00.
The NZDUSD (see above chart) has traded up form overnight lows of 0.7914 to recent highs of 0.8005 after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held its Official Cash Rate steady at 2.50 per cent given ongoing global economic and financial risks but Governor Alan Bollard said that future cash rate increases are likely if global developments have only a mild impact on the country.
Gold continued to advance to a one month highs trading up from overnight lows of 1702.5 to recent highs of 1726.45 extending on its longest rally since August.
WTI crude dropped the most in more than three weeks after a government report showed larger than projected gain in US stockpiles. WTI traded down over 3.2 per cent to lows of 90.12.
The volatility index dropped over 7 per cent overnight as investors get some confidence back on the prospect of a resolution in the European area.
INDICES
Last Traded
SPI 200 future 4249
S&P500 Index 1242.00
Dow Jones 11869.04
FTSE 100 Index 55553.24
COMMODITIES
Last Traded
Gold 1721.43
Oil (Nymex) 90.74
CURRENCIES
Last Traded
AUDUSD 1.0395
EURUSD 1.3897
GBPUSD 1.5963
USDJPY 76.24
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News