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Wall street closed higher on Friday bolstered by a softer-than-expected jobs report which boosted investor hopes of rate cuts in the near future. The Dow Jones rose 1.18%, the S&P500 added 1.26% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.99% on the rate cut optimism.

Non-farm payrolls indicated 175,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in April, which was well below the 240,000 economists were expecting and the US unemployment rate rose to 3.9% from 3.8% for the month. Wages data also came in below expectations which is a strong sign inflation is becoming less sticky as wages inflation has been a key point of stubborn inflation over the last year. Apple shares rose almost 6% on Friday after the tech giant announced a near US$110bn share repurchase and beat analysts’ expectations for 1st quarter results.

Over in Europe on Friday, markets closed higher to round out a negative week as investors responded to corporate earnings results. The STOXX600 ended the day up 0.44%, Germany’s DAX added 0.6%, the French CAC rose 0.54%, and in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.51%.

In Asia on Friday markets ended the week in positive territory led by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rising 1.48%.

Locally on Friday, the ASX200 rose 0.55% as every sector ended the day in positive territory led by consumer discretionary stocks rising just shy of 2% while reit stocks added 1.55%. Block was the best performing stock locally rising 9.83% after the payment platform posted impressive quarterly results that exceeded analysts’ expectations including gross profit rising 22% year-on-year to US$2.09bn.

Gold miners came under pressure locally on Friday amid the sliding price of the precious commodity with evolution mining falling 5.57%, while Ramelius Resources fell 2.04% and Regis Resources declined 1.91%.

Diversified financial house Macquarie fell on Friday after the company released full year results including net profit falling 32% while net operating income declined 12% over the year. Macquarie attributed the fall in key results to a sharp decline in the commodities and global markets business, and a fall in the Macquarie Asset Management business division.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of the first trading session for the new trading week, the SPI futures are expecting the ASX to open Monday’s session up 0.3% on the back of Wall Street’s jobs-driven rally on Friday.
• Looking at commodities this morning, oil is trading 1.22% lower at US$77.99/barrel, gold is down 0.13% 2301.30/ounce and iron ore is down 0.04% at US$118.03/tonne.
• AU$1.00 is buying US$0.66, 101.08 Japanese yen, 52.68 British pence and NZ$1.10.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has increased the 12-month price target on Nickel Industries (ASX:NIC) from $1.50 to $1.54 and maintain a buy rating on the nickel producer following the company’s release of its March quarter production from its Rotary Kilm Electric Furnace operations including production of 31,840 tonnes of contained nickel and cash costs below Bell Potter’s forecasts. The company faced impacted mining production from its Hengjaya Mine however, mixed hydroxide precipitate production increased 16% which ramped up towards nameplate capacity. Bell Potter’s analyst sees tailwinds are increasing in CY24 once mining permit delays are overcome.