Local Markets Commentary

The Australian market commences a new week’s trade on mildly positive international equities leads.

In overnight Friday commodities trade, oil continued higher. US gold futures fell. LME copper achieved a modest rise. Iron ore extended Thursday’s gain.

The $A fell to ~US79.30c, after trading at ~US79.70c early Friday evening.

Locally pre-trade, the AiG releases its July construction sector activity index. Weekly capital city house prices are also due.

ANZ publishes monthly job advertisements 11.30am AEST.

Regionally, China’s July foreign exchange reserves are expected anytime from post-trade today, together with June quarter current account figures.

The three-day Diggers & Dealers forum is underway in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, WA. Expect plenty of minerals sector presentations, announcements and recommendations.

Overseas Market Commentary

Major European and US equities markets gained in unison overnight Friday, Germany’s DAX recording a notable rebound.

The nation’s June industrial orders grew 1% following a 1.1% increase in May and after forecasts of just half that further improvement.

In the US, the official national employment market report revealed 209,000 jobs were created during July, exceeding forecasts by ~25,000.

Moreover, June’s jobs growth was revised 9,000 higher, to 231,000.

The July employment rate slipped 0.1% to 4.3%.

Average weekly earnings rose 0.3% for the month, following 0.2% for June. For the year, earnings were up 2.5%.

The June trade deficit eased ~$US3B to $US43.6B.

Tonight in the US, June consumer credit and a labour market conditions index are due.

Japan’s SoftBank is among companies scheduled to report earnings later today.

In overnight Friday corporate news, Royal Bank of Scotland reported a swing to a quarterly profit, buoying financial stocks on the FTSE 100.

Toyota and Mazda announced a joint $US1.6B investment in a new vehicle manufacturing facility in the US.