MARKET CLOSE
(4.30pm AEST)

The ASX 200 index (XJO) rose 2.6 pct or 110.3 pts to 4282.9 while the broader All Ordinaries index (XAO) is up 2.6 pct or 108.9 pts to 4346.8. All sectors managed to post solid gains today, with the energy and mining sectors leading the way.

Last week was an incredible one for markets around the world, with huge swing being experienced are the globe. In Australia, Tuesday was the most volatile day in 27 years. Last week was the most volatile one for the Dow Jones Industrials index in close to 115 years.

If we take a step back for a moment however despite the significant daily movements, global markets ended either slightly higher or lower by week end. Over the past five days, the Dow Jones index dropped 1.5 pct while the All Ordinaries index (XAO) actually defied the majority of global markets to improve by 1.6 pct.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials index rose 3.38 pct or 412.7 pts to 12633.3. Australia's biggest miner, BHP Billiton (BHP) rose 4.29 pct or $1.64 to $39.85 while RIO Tinto (RIO) improved by 4.19 pct or $3.00 to $74.52.

The S&P/ASX 200 Energy index jumped 3.27 pct or 441.4 pts to 13939.5, with Woodside Petroleum (WPL) improving by 3.51 pct or $1.30 to $38.35 ahead of its profit result which is scheduled for release tomorrow.

Three of the major banks ended significantly higher today, with ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) up 3.66 pct or 73 cents to $20.65, Westpac (WBC) rose 3.42 pct or 70 cents to $21.17 while National Australia Bank (NAB) jumped 2.66 pct or 61 cents to $23.57.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) fell by 2.43 pct or $1.18 to $47.38 however. Keep in mind that CBA did go ex-dividend today for its $1.88 a share dividend payment scheduled to be paid at the start of October. This means that you would have had to purchase CBA shares no later than last Friday and held them up until at least today to be eligible to receive the next distribution by the bank.

Over 100 companies are scheduled to post their profit results this week, with Australia's largest gold producer Newcrest Mining (NCM) and the country's biggest construction company, Leighton Holdings (LEI) both posting annual earnings today.

For the 12 months to June 2011, NCM's profit rose by 63 pct to $908 million, falling short of expectations. NCM shares fell 0.81 pct or 33 cents to $40.40. The gold giant has been one of the better performers over the past week, given a boost by a stronger gold price and increased global uncertainty.

LEI, Australia's biggest construction company posted a net loss of $408.8 million for the past year which was in line with expectations. Investors seemed to look past the result and instead focus on the future. Despite the loss, the company has reiterated its $600 to $650 million profit expectation for this financial year. LEI shares rose 8.26 pct or $1.64 to $21.49. LEI also agreed to sell its contract mining business in the Pilbara to BHP for $705 million. LEI, WBC, OST, TAH, VRL, CRZ, ANZ, WPL, WES, FMG,

Tomorrow will be a big day on the earnings front, with Onesteel (OST), Village Roadshow (VRL), Tabcorp (TAH), Carsales.com (CRZ) and Westpac (WBC) all scheduled to post their profit results.

Later in the week, ANZ Banking Group (ANZ), Woodside Petroleum (WPL), Wesfarmers (WES) and Fortescue Metals (FMG) will be posting their results.

In other news, this Thursday parliament will vote on a proposition to end the live export trade.

Asian Markets

Asian markets rose strongly today with shares in Taiwan amongst the strongest gainers, up 2.39 pct or 182.37 pts to 7819.39, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2.87 pct or 563.18 pts to 20183.19, and China's Shanghai Composite index improved by 1.27 pct or 32.84 pts to 2626.76.

This morning, Japan's latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) result was released for the previous quarter (between April and June 2011). The world's third largest economy contracted less than expected and helped lift the Nikkei 225 index by 1.37 pct or 122.96 pts to 9086.41. Last week the Nikkei 225 index fell 3.6 pct.

The index started being calculated in 1950 and is one of the world's most quoted indices. Japan's economy contracted by 0.3 pct, which is 0.3 pct less than what the market was expecting.

Turning to China, a total of 22 fake Apple Stores have been found in just one Chinese City (Kunming). The owners of the stores went to incredible lengths to make their shops look and feel legitimate, with staff wearing similar Apple t-shirts in addition to a comparable store layout.

The maker of the very popular iPad and the iPhone, Apple (AAPL;USs) is a stock which has performed very well so far this calendar year, rising 17 pct since January 2011. This compares to the Dow Jones index which has fallen 2.6 pct over the same period.

It was relatively busy start to the week when it comes to economic data in Australia. The Australian Institute of Petroleum released its weekly report on the national average petrol price. The average price of unleaded fuel dropped 1.4 cents a litre to 140.1 cents last week.

Over the past few weeks, motorists have benefited from a lower wholesale price which has flowed through to the end consumer. The lower petrol prices might be short lived however. Commsec Economist, Savanth Sebastian said that "In the past few days the price of oil on a global front has once again started to rise. And as such, in a fortnight's time petrol prices will be once again on the up. The Singapore unleaded prices has jumped by just shy of $4 in Aussie dollar terms, and if prices are sustained over the next few days it will lead to high petrol prices down the track. In short motorist should look to fill up on the discount days over the coming week as prices are likely to rise thereafter."

The latest car sales data was also published today. In July there was a significant 8.6 pct rise in the number of new cars sold across the country.

The strong result has less to do with the actual number of cars sold in July than with the delivery of cars over the month. The earthquake in Japan earlier in the year disrupted the supply chain and thus slowed down the construction of cars and trucks.

It is quite likely that car sales will rise over the next few months due to the improvement in supply. There have been around one million cars sold in Australia over the past 12 months. This compares to around 13 million vehicles sold in both the U.S and China.

European US Markets Expectations

There is a lack of economic data scheduled for release out of Europe tonight with both French and Italian banks closed for a bank holiday. French President, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor are meeting tomorrow to discuss the potential options for Eurozone economies in relation to debt.

It will be a quiet day for economic releases in the U.S with only a manufacturing index and a housing market index released tonight. The housing index is based on a questionnaire answered by close to 1,000 builders asking for the current and future level of property sales from their perspectives. A reading below 50 indicates a negative outlook for the housing sector. The market is expecting a reading of 15.

This week, the latest data on building permits, housing starts, crude oil inventories, weekly unemployment claims and a monthly inflation reading will be released over the coming five sessions.

The volume of shares traded came in at 1.97 billion today, worth $5.65 billion. 770 shares were up, 317 finished weaker and 315 ended unchanged. This is significantly lower than last Monday's volume.

Sydney's Futures

At 4.30pm AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the ASX24 futures contract is down 0.07 pct or 3 pts to 4267.

Most major European markets trade between 5pm (AEST) and 1.30am (AEST). Futures in Europe are pointing to a stronger start to trade.
Dow Jones futures are a little higher, indicating that U.S shares could start stronger when American markets open at 11.30pm (AEST).

Turning to currencies, the Australian dollar is higher and buys US104.1 cents, JPY80.07 and EUR72.82 cents.

One of the best performing stocks on the market today was Wah Nam International (WNI), which rose 15 pct or 1.5 cents to 11.5 cents. WNI is a holding company which invests mainly in iron ore and copper. It also operates a limousine rental and shuttle bus business. WNI has a market capitalisation of $616 million.

(From Steven Daghlian, Commsec Market Analyst)