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A week of mixed sentiment ended with a soaring rally on Friday as investors digested fresh inflation data out in the U.S. The Dow Jones rallied 1.64%, the S&P500 climbed 1.1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day up 1.03%. The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.1% on a monthly basis in June and 2.5% yearly, with both readings falling in line with economists’ expectations. This data comes as GDP growth rate data for the US out last Thursday came in at a growth of 2.8% in Q2 which was stronger than economists were expecting, indicating the world’s largest economy continues to grow whilst taming inflation.

Over in Europe markets closed higher on Friday as the global market sell-off eased. The STOXX600 rose 0.9%, Germany’s DAX added 0.65%, the French CAC rose 1.22%, and, in the UK, the FTSE 100 ended the day up 1.21%.

Across the Asia markets on Friday it was a mostly green end to a volatile week, despite Japan’s Nikkei closing lower for an 8th straight session as Tokyo’s headline inflation slowed slightly to 2.2% in July and corporate earnings weighed on investor sentiment in the region as Nissan fell 3.88% after reporting disappointing results for Q1. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.34% on Friday, China’s CSI Index added 0.29% and South Korea’s Kospi index ended the day up 0.78%.

Locally on Friday the ASX200 rose 0.76% led by the materials sector jumping 1.42% while every other sector aside from staples stocks ended the day in the green.

Mineral Resources jumped 3.5% on Friday after the mining services and production giant said it was on track to achieve its output guidance for FY24.

Bellevue Gold tumbled 21% on Friday after the gold producer tracking the easing price of gold on Friday and after the company announced it has received firm commitments for a $150m fully underwritten institutional placement with plans to use the proceeds for paying down debt, unlocking free cash flow and to support accelerated exploration and growth.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of the first trading session of the last trading week of July, the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX to open the day up 0.76% on the back of Wall Steet’s rally on Friday.
• On the commodities front this morning oil is trading 0.27% higher at US$77.38/barrel, gold is up 0.38% at US$2395/ounce and iron ore is down 0.26% at US$106.86/tonne.
• AU$1.00 is buying US$0.65, 100.87 Japanese Yen, 50.88 British Pence and NZ$1.11.

Trading Idea:

• Bell potter has increased the 12-month price target on Polynovo (ASX:PNV) from $2.05 to $2.52 and maintain a hold rating on the healthcare company amid long-term growth opportunities for the company. Numerous factors have contributed to the re-rating over recent months including execution on the sales roll out in the US being flawless, while each of the peers have endured a period of faltering growth resulting in adverse valuation adjustments. FY25 revenues are expected to increase by around $35m being a similar quantum increase in FY24 with the net result being ROE and return on cash invested capital beginning to look very attractive leading to the price target increase according to Bell Potter’s analyst. The analyst said a reasonable amount of growth is already priced in hence the hold rating.