A stronger day is in store for Australian equities on the back of higher commodity prices with futures trading point to a 0.3% gain from the start of trading on Friday.
“The Australian share market is likely to open marginally up, propelled by potential gains in mining and energy stocks as underlying commodity prices rebounded on Thursday,” Chief CommSec Economist Ryan Felsman told Azzet.
He said commodity prices had broadly increased overseas, particularly iron ore and copper, as a result of factors including an improved economic outlook for China and technical trading.
At 9:20 am AEDT (10:20 pm GMT) the S&P/ASX 200 share price index futures March contract was trading 26 points (0.31%) higher at 8,310 points.
Wall Street was closed overnight for a National Day of Mourning for former United States President Jimmy Carter, who died recently at the age of 100 and whose funeral was held on Thursday.
Australia shares closed lower on Thursday for the first time in six days with the S&P/ASX 200 falling 0.2% to 8,329.2 points as data provided mixed messages about the economy.
Stocks in focus today will include miners like Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), BHP Group (ASX: BHP) and Fortescue (ASX: FMG).
Investors will also be looking at the share price of troubled casino stock Star Entertainment Group (ASX: SGR) which fell by one third to a record low of 13 cents on Thursday after revealing it is running out of cash and needs more funds to survive.
On fixed interest markets, at 9:50 am AEDT 10-year Australian Government rates were 0.16% lower at 4.508% and two-year rates were 0.08% down at 3.883%.
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