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Favourable jobs data boosted Wall St to a positive finish on Friday investor optimism of rate cuts out of the Fed gained further traction. The S&P500 notched another record close, ending the day up 0.54%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 0.9% and the Dow Jones ended the day up 0.2%. Nonfarm payrolls for June saw 206,000 jobs added to the economy but the U.S. unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% which was higher than economists’ expectations and indicates further loosening of the tight U.S. labour market.

Over in Europe, markets closed mixed as investors assessed the outcomes of key parliamentary elections in the region. The STOXX 600 fell 0.22%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.14%, the French CAC fell 0.26% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day down 0.45% as investors responded to the result of the UK’s general election where the opposition Labour Party won a vast majority, unseating the Conservatives after 14-years.

Across the Asia markets on Friday, it was a mixed session as key economic data weighed on equities markets. South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 1.32% on Friday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.13%, China’s CSI lost 0.43% and Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.49% from recent record highs after household spending for May unexpectedly dipped 1.8% in real terms for May which fell well short of economists’ expectations of a 0.1% rise.

Locally on Friday the ASX200 fell 0.1% in a quiet session however the key index still posted a 0.7% gain for the week as coal and gold stocks boosted the ASX200 higher. Miners weighed on the key index on Friday amid the sliding price of iron ore and the big banks each posted a decline too.

Healthcare stocks offset some of the heavy losses on Friday with CSL, ResMed and Cochlear each ending the day in positive territory.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of the first trading session of the new trading week, the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX to open the day down 0.14%.
• On the commodities front this morning, oil is down 0.17% at US$83.24 per barrel, gold is down 0.2% at US$2386.04 per ounce and iron ore is down 1.55% at US$111.31 per tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has strengthened to buy US$0.67, 108.41 Japanese Yen, 52.70 British Pence and NZ$1.10.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has initiated coverage on Percheron Therapeutics (ASX:PER) with a speculative buy rating and a price target of 14cps with the analyst saying it is a high risk, high reward outlook for the company. Percheron is an Australian biotechnology company seeking to develop ATL 1102 for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disorder caused by a mutation in the gene responsible for the production of dystrophin. The company’s next catalyst is the release of headline data from the phase 2b clinical trial due in 2HCY24.
• Trading Central has identified a bearish signal on Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 23-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may fall from the close of $12.25 to the range of $10.70 to $11.00 according to standard principles of technical analysis.