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Overnight in the US, Wall St posted its 4^th consecutive day of gains, with all 3 of the major indexes closing in the green. The Dow Jones climbed 0.8%, the S&P500 climbed 0.9%, while the Nasdaq saw the biggest wins of the day, advancing 1%. The S&P500 and Dow Jones are both up around 3% this week, putting them on pace for their best weeks since late June, while the Nasdaq has advanced more than 4%, giving it its best week since mid May.

European markets saw similar gains – the pan European Stoxx600 index closed up over 1%, spurred by a 0.9% gain for the UK’s FTSE, a 1.1% gain for Germany’s DAX, and a 0.9% gain for the French CAC. And Asian markets too followed suit, with the Chinese CSI gaining 0.6%, Hong Kong’s Hang Send gaining 0.13%, and the Japanese Nikkei jumping 1.85%.

It was no different back home in Australia, as yesterday the ASX 200 closed up 0.81%, with 8 of the 11 key sectors posting gains. The market was trading up as high as 1.2%, however the release of hotter than expected CPI data dented the rally somewhat, as chances of the RBA lowering the cash rate become substantially slimmer.

The materials sector was once again in the lead, with big names BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) posting gains of over 1%.

In notable stock news, furniture maker Temple and Webster (ASX:TPW) shares plummeted 32% after the company reported results that were well short of expectations.

What to watch today:

• Focusing on today, the SPI futures indicate that the ASX will continue its winning streak, predicting a 0.26% rise at the open of trade.
• Moving to commodities,
  • Crude Oil prices settled up 1.1% after they had hit their lowest point in a month in the previous session. It is currently trading at US$58.56 per barrel.
  • In precious metals, Gold is trading up 0.78% higher at US$4163 per ounce, while silver has jumped 3 and a half percent to US$53.62 per ounce, hitting a two week high.
  • And Iron ore once again remains mostly flat at $104.63 per tonne.

Trading ideas:

• Finally, we’ll end on some trading ideas for your consideration today. Bell Potter has maintained its Buy rating on almond grower and processor Select Harvests (ASX:SHV), and increased its 12 month price target to $5.80 per share, after the company reported an 18% increase in YoY revenue, and a 63% increase in operating EBITDA.
• And Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in gambling company Tabcorp Holdings (ASX:TAH), indicating that the price may rise from the close of $0.92 per share to the range of $1.09 to $1.13 per share over a period of 18 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.