Gains on Wall St and on the European markets, should see the ASX rise this morning.
In fact, last week's global market and commodity declines seem to have reversed in the early part of this week.
- Global oil prices surged 5.5% - the most since March - with Brent crude rising by US$3.57 to US$68.75 a barrel.
- Base metal prices were mostly higher on Monday.
- Copper rose 2.8%. Commsec reports that "withdrawal orders at London Metal Exchange warehouses soared the most in 6 years, a sign that supply bottlenecks in China are boosting import demand".
- Zinc lost 0.1%.
- Spot gold was trading near US$1,805 an ounce at the US close.
- Iron ore fell by US$2.60 a tonne or 1.9% to US$136.50 a tonne.
Australian market
Futures relative to fair value suggest the S&P/ASX 200 index will open up 0.3% at a 4-day high of 7,513.
That's good news amid reports that consumer spending is set to contract, which could have a negative impact on the Australian market moving forward.
The CBA's Stephen Wu said the outlook for consumer spending had darkened, with NSW and potentially Victoria only re-opening once vaccination rates were met.
While there was a small uptick in the pace of spending growth for the week ending August 20, according to CBA’s high‑frequency card spending data, it is unlikely to last.
"National spending is tracking 8% higher than the corresponding week in 2019, up from the 4% pace the previous week.
"But that remains significantly down from the 20% pace in May prior to the Vic lockdown. 53% of Australians were under lockdown in the week, up by more than 1% from the previous week."
Looking at some of the majors. Ansell Limited (ASX:ANN) profits jumped 50% as it rode the wave of demand for PPE due to COVID-19.
Earnings per share came in at 192.2c, while shareholders will receive a final dividend of US43.6c, payable September 16.
Boral Limited (ASX:BLD) reported a 6.2% decline in revenue from continuing operations and a 44% increase in net profit before significant items to $250.7 million for the year ending June 30. However, it has warned of a softening market.
Kogan.com cancelled its final dividend in the wake of an 86.8% collapse of its profits for fiscal 2021. The online retailer is suffering a blowout in warehouse and logistics costs caused by bloated inventory and a slowdown in consumer demand after the first COVID-19 wave crunched earnings.
Australian indices
- ASX 200 rose 0.39% to 7,489.90
- ASX24 futures rose 0.1% to 7,434.
- S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries rose 1.15% to 3,512.80
- All ordinaries rose 0.47% to 7,761.10
US market
Tech stocks led Wall Street rises as the index rose to all-time highs on Monday.
The market was bolstered by the country's COVID-19 immunisation drive and US regulators granting full approval for the vaccine made by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) (+2.5%) and BioNTech (+9.6%).
Moderna shares also jumped 7.6% and shares of Trillium Therapeutics (TSX:TR) soared 188.8% on Pfizer's US$2.26bn deal.
Shares of Chevron were up +2.6% and Occidental Petroleum +6.9% led gains as oil prices rebounded.
US indices
- Dow Jones rose 0.6% to 35,335.71.
- S&P 500 rose by 0.9% to 4,479.53
- Nasdaq rose 1.6% to 14,942.65
European markets
European markets also closed higher on Monday, led by oil and gas stocks jumping 2.1%. British supermarket chain Sainsburys surged 15.4% after reports of takeover interest from private equity firms.
Shares in Rio Tinto rose by 0.5% and shares in BHP lifted by 1.1%.
European indices
STOXX 600 rose 0.66% to 471.88
German Dax rose 0.3% to 15,852.79
UK FTSE rose 0.3% to 7,109.02