The Australian equities are pointed to a reasonable start for the trading day after US stocks closed higher on the back of continued solid company earnings and rumours of another possible round of easing from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow advanced 104.83 points to settle at 11913.62 while the S&P500 index added 15.94points to close at 1254.19. Investors reacted positively to a set of merger announcements and were heartened by the lack of negative news out of Europe.
The EURUSD (see above chart) traded up from overnight lows of 1.3823 to recent highs of 1.3953 on increasing speculation that European lawmakers are finalising a deal to boost the euro zone’s bailout fund.
USDJPY has finished the overnight session near its lows dispute the Japan’s finance minister vowed to take “resolute action” on the strong yen.
Gold rose for a second day running tracking the gains in other commodities as renewed optimism for growth in China boosted prospects for raw materials.
WTI oil rose to a two month high after inventories fell at key US delivery points. WTI traded up from overnight lows of 87.47 to as high as 91.81, this represents a gain of 4.4 per cent gain.
The volatility index closed below 30 points for the first time in over a week as investors gain confidence that euro zone leaders were nearing an agreement on bank recapitalisation.
INDICES
Last Traded
SPI 200 future 4281
S&P500 Index 1254.19
Dow Jones 11913.62
FTSE 100 Index 5548.06
COMMODITIES
Last Traded
Gold 1653.78
Oil (Nymex) 91.74
CURRENCIES
Last Traded
AUDUSD 1.0473
EURUSD 1.3930
GBPUSD 1.5995
USDJPY 76.10
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News