Markets: Australia To Rise Today?

Australian shares are expected to start the week higher with the futures market pointing to a 1% gain when trade resumes today.

That was after a solid end to what was a very nervous week on markets around the globe on Friday.

The benchmark ASX 200 Index closed 1.2% on Friday.

The broader All Ordinaries index added 51.3 points, or 1.2%, to 4358.6 points.

The futures market is looking at an early gain of more than 40 points today.

Last week, the ASX/200 managed to rise 0.35% after a 1.7% fall the prior week.

Surprisingly it was the biggest rise in Asia last week.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 2.4% last week, its second-straight weekly loss.

Japan's Nikkei fell 3.3%, South Korea's Kospi Index dropped 3.4%, Singapore's Straits Times Index slid 2%, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 3.6%.

The MSCI All-Country World Index added 2.2% on Friday, falling 3.1% on Wednesday and Thursday.

The euro appreciated 1.1% to $US1.3752, while the dollar slid versus its 16 major peer currencies.

The Australian dollar closed at $US1.020. It had risen to almost $US1.03 this morning in early Asian trading as fears about Italy eased for the moment.

Oil rose to almost $US99 a barrel, and gold rose $US29 to around $US1,789 an ounce as 'risk' on' traders cautiously emerged from their bunkers.

In the US all three major indexes, the Dow, the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq are now all back in the black for 2011 (by way of contrast, Australia is still about 9.5% down for the year).

On Friday, the Dow climbed 259.89 points, or 2.2%, to 12,153.68 Friday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 24.16 points, or 2%, to 1,263.85, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 53.60 points, or 2%, to 2,678.75.

For the week, the Dow added 1.4%, the S&P 500 gained 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.3%.

The Dow is up 5% for the year, while the S&P 500 has edged up 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite has added 1%.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 2.4% to 240.98 on Friday.

For the week, it rose 0.5%.

Meanwhile, France's CAC-40 index jumped 2.8% to 3,149.38, after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services reaffirmed France's AAA credit rating after a technical error suggested it had been cut.

Germany's DAX 30 index advanced 3.2% to 6,057.03.

London's FTSE 100 index rose 1.9% to 5,545.38.

Bloomberg said that national benchmark indexes climbed in 10 of the 18 western European markets.

France's CAC 40 added 2.8%, London's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.3% and Germany's DAX Index jumped 1.5%.

Comex December gold ended up $US28.50, or 1.6%, at $1,788.10 an ounce on Friday as the US dollar lost ground against the euro and other major currencies.

That was after the metal lost around $US40 in trading on Wednesday and Thursday.

But despite those losses, gold still ended the week with a gain of 1.8%.

Prices for other metals futures also ended higher, with copper leading the pack.

Comex December copper was up 9c or 2.7%, to $US3.46 a pound in New York on Friday.

That wasn't enough, however, to offset steeper losses earlier in the week and the metal lost 2.8% over the week, despite more signs that the Chinese economy isn't being crunched.

Comex silver for December delivery rose 58 c, or 1.7%, to end the week at $US34.68 an ounce.

That left silver 1.8% higher over the week.

Crude-oil futures hit a three month high on Friday as the 'risk on' investment climate returned and the US dollar fell.

Nymex crude for December delivery added $US1.21, or 1.2%, to settle at $US98.99 a barrel on Friday night.

That left oil up 5% for the week, its sixth consecutive week of advances.

And it was the highest close for a most-active oil contract since July 26, when oil ended at $US99.59 a barrel, according to Marketwatch and Reuters.

In London, ICE Brent December crude rose 45c to settle at $US114.16 a barrel.

Brent rose 1.96% for the week. Brent's December contract expires Tuesday.