MARKETS

The US dollar has been broadly bid higher as investors react to Friday's jobs numbers. The November payrolls reading showed 321,000 jobs were created and average hourly earnings rose 0.4%, while the unemployment rate was steady at 5.8%. This was the highest number of jobs created in nearly three years and was also accompanied by upward revisions to the previous two months. Heading into next week's Fed meeting, this jobs report is only fuelling the case for the hawks.

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 321,000 in November, well above forecasts of job gains of 230,000 and the strongest increase in jobs in almost three years. The jobless rate was unchanged at 5.8% and hourly earnings rose by 0.4% in the month, above forecasts for a 0.2% gain. The trade deficit narrowed from a revised US$43.6 billion deficit to US$43.4bn deficit in October.

A flat start for local shares on Friday has given way to broad selling for the ASX 200. At the best levels of the session the AS 200 was ahead by almost 21 points. However at lunchtime the market was around session lows with a loss of 26 points or 0.5%. The was no clear direction offered by US and European markets overnight.

The Australian Dollar made new four year lows last night amid expectations of interest rate cuts early next year.

2015 will remain a year of mass monetary accommodation; what will change is where the money printing and record low rates will come from. The ECB is clearly gearing up for a broad-ranging stimulus package in 2015. ECB President Mario Draghi stated clearly that the Board 'won't tolerate' low inflation and announced that officials had discussed all measures barring gold to support the economy at last night's meeting. It will allot another round to its current corporate bond buying prog...

In economic data, jobless claims fell by 17,000 to 297,000 last week. The 4-week moving average - a better gauge of underlying trends - rose to 299,000, the highest in 10 weeks.

The ASX 200 spent the afternoon consolidating having reached session highs in the latter part of morning trade. Materials and Industrial stocks were the best improved sectors and investors gave the defensive utilities sector a wide berth which saw that group lagging the most.

Early trade on Thursday has seen local shares continue to build on the gains of recent sessions. The ASX 200 opened the day with a gain of 5 points before pushing on to the best levels of the morning when the market was ahead by 52 pts. Investors have been encouraged by the positive tone of US economic news released over night. European shares were generally higher on Wednesday on hopes that the European Central Bank would inject more stimulus into the economy on Thursday. The FTSEurofirst 300 i...

The Australian Dollar is lower after yesterday's weaker-than-expected GDP data from around 0.8460 to 0.8400 and after some intra-session variation overnight, that's about where it sits this morning.

In a slight surprise this week, the PBoC did not use the reverse-repo operation to drain the excess liquidity in the market. Most had forecast this would take place considering the fiscal policy changes currently underway. To my eye, this signals intent that 2015 will be a growth supporting year; interest rate cuts, reserve requirement ratios and further disbursements will be a theme from China in 2015.

In US economic data, the ISM services index rose from 57.1 to 59.3 in November, above forecasts for a result near 57.5. The ADP survey showed that 208,000 jobs were created in November, just short of expectations for 221,000 job growth. The mortgage market index fell by 7.3% in the latest week, dragged down by a fall in refinancing.

Australian shares maintained most of their gains with the ASX 200 Index rising by 0.8 per cent; trading above 5300pts and adding to yesterday's 1.4 per cent surge. Energy and mining sectors improved by between 0.7 per cent and 1.2 per cent despite a slump in oil, gold and iron ore prices.

Local shares saw a mixed start to trade on Wednesday after the strong gains of the previous session. The ASX 200 opened with a loss of 20 points, however those levels found buying support and over the ensuing hours the market was able to fight its way back into positive territory. At the best levels of the morning the index was up by 50 points and as lunchtime loomed every ASX sector was in positive territory.

The Australian Dollar has slipped back below USD 0.8500, being driven by a strengthening US Dollar, concerns over Australia's economy and uncertainty about the Reserve Bank's next move.

2015 is gearing up to be the stress test of the Australian economy for the millennium.

Australian cities may be one of the top places to live or raise a family, but when it comes to being a vacation spot, only one Australia place was included in a bucket list made by Flight Center.

In US economic data, chain store sales fell by 0.6% in the latest week but the annual growth rate of sales rose from 4.2% to 4.8%. Construction spending rose 1.1% in October, ahead of expectations for a 0.6% gain. And the ISM New York index rose from 657.2 to 663.4 in November.

The economists were right again. As they predicted, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept on Tuesday for the 16th straight month the overnight cash rate at the record low 2.5 percent.

Australian shares are being led higher by the mining and energy sectors with the ASX 200 Index rising by 0.7 per cent. Despite today's rise, the local market had its worst day since 10 October yesterday, hit a 1.5 month low in the process and slumped by 3.5 per over two sessions.

The focus turns to the RBA. Rates are expected to remain unchanged, but the statement is likely to be AUD dovish.

Tough time to be a commodities trader; overnight trade saw silver moved through a 15% range, gold moved through a 6% range, Brent crude near enough to 7% while copper moved through a 4% range. A look at the commodities boards suggested Christmas festivities had come early, as each moved from negative to positive and vice-versa.

In US economic data, the ISM manufacturing index eased from 59.0 to 58.7 in November, above forecasts for a result near 57.8.

Pope Francis prayed inside a Muslim mosque while in a visit to Turkey.

A new month and a new week has started the same way the last month ended, with sellers in control. The ASX started the session with a 5 point loss before trading to the low point of the morning where the index chalked up a deficit of almost 47 points. Over the course of the morning there was little evidence that buyers saw value at the newly discounted levels which had taking the market to the lowest levels in around 6 weeks.

The Australian Dollar has opened this week's trading below the 85 cent level as commodity currencies remain under pressure.

US investors came back to from Thanksgiving on Friday and gave oil a mauling on the back of OPEC nations' inaction on Thursday.

In European economic data, German retail sales rose by 1.9% in real terms in October, above forecasts for a 1.7% gain and compares with the 2.8% fall in September sales.

The weak tone seen in the first half of the session remained over the course of the afternoon. The ASX 200 was unable to recover from the session lows which was where the index spent most of the session. Over the course of the week the index gained 0.16%

Cooling measures put in place by some Asian government such as Hong Kong and Singapore had displaced demand for real estate in the region. Because of the significant impact of the measures on transaction volumes, market experts foresee some of those restrictions being lifted in the next 12 months, forecasts Liam Bailey, global head of residential research at Knight Frank, in the white paper of leading property portal Lamudi.