Wall St closed the trading week higher on Friday, capping off the best week for US stocks so far this year after a soft jobs report drove bond yields lower. The Dow Jones closed 0.66% in the green, the S&P 500 ended the trading week nearly one percent higher and the tech-heavy-Nasdaq rose 1.38% on Friday.

October jobs reports data was released on Friday coming in lower than expected, with the US economy adding 150,000 jobs, 20,000 lower than the 170,000 consensus estimate from Dow Jones. US unemployment data was also released on Friday, with a rise to 3.9%, with expectations of it holding steady at 3.8%.

Over in Europe on Friday, markets closed slightly higher, ending a week powered by solid earnings reports. The STOXX600 ended out the week 0.2% higher, led by retail stocks which saw a 1.7% rise. Germany’s DAX closed off the week 0.30% higher whilst the French CAC and the UK’s FTSE 100 ended the trading week 0.19% and 0.39% in the red respectively.

Locally on Friday, the ASX200 closed 1.14% higher, with all but the energy sector finishing in the green. The industry and real estate sectors led the way gaining over 2% each.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open higher, with the SPI futures suggesting a rise of 0.2% at market open this morning.
• On the commodities front this morning,
  • Oil is down 2.36% to 80 US dollars and 51 cents a barrel, as China manufacturing levels have dropped into a contraction. 
  • Gold is up 0.35% to 1992 US dollars an ounce, underpinned by a weaker US dollar and lower treasury yields. 
  • And iron ore is up 0.80% to 125 US dollars and 50 cents a tonne.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Regal Partners (ASX:RPL) and has increased their 12-month price target to $3.40. The buy rating is maintained as the company has acquired 50% of Taurus, a specialist provider of financing solutions to global mid-tier and junior mining companies. The acquisition of Taurus will add to funds under management, will enhance earnings per share and does not involve issuance of equity.
• And Bell Potter maintains a hold rating on CSR (ASX:CSR) and has increased its price target to $5.70. The hold rating is maintained as the group is now past the peak of its current pricing cycle and as such, it is expected that recovery of fixed costs will become more challenging in FY25 as construction headwinds align.