The S&P/ASX 200 fell 79 points (1.69%) to 4,618.20. With little direction from the U.S. market on Monday, the Aussie index tumbled.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to add 10 points to close at 11,020.40, after spending most of the session in the red. The market turned around not long after the Fed’s meeting minutes were released, indicating that more quantitative easing would be required if inflation remained to low for much longer.

The FTSE declined 10 points, closing at 5,661.59. Most utility stocks were higher for the day, with Essar Energy [LON: ESSR] closing up 3.25%.

The Nikkei came back from a long weekend, losing 200 points (2.09%), to finish at 9,388.64.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,368.56, while in US dollars it’s $1,350.06. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $23.57 and in US dollars it’s $23.26.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9863 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 80.68.

Oil dropped after the Fed’s minutes, even though the US dollar weakened. Crude Oil closed at USD$81.74.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.

The S&P/ASX 200 added 16 points, ending at 4,697.50. Yesterday’s housing data showed that first home buyer’s loans dropped to the lowest level in six months, making up only 15.5% of the loan market for August.

Overnight was a flat trading session for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, closing only 3 point higher to 11,010.34. Coming out this week will be reports on retail sales, consumer sentiment and inflation data. Previously the Fed has said it would buy bonds to bring inflation in line with historical levels.

The FTSE was higher on QE hopes, closing 14 up to 5,672.40.

The Japanese market was closed due to the Health and Sports public holiday.

Gold has remained strong as many traders believe that the Fed will start the next round of quantitative easing at the next meeting, or after the election in November.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,375.73, while in US dollars it’s $1,353.80. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $23.64 and in US dollars it’s $23.27.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9835 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 80.68.

Crude Oil was lower, closing at USD$82.21.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.

On Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 was higher by 13 points to 4,681.00. Coming out today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is the housing finance data for August.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 57 points to close at 11,006.48. The nonfarm-payroll data was as worse than expected, showing that a net 95,000 people lost their jobs. However, the rally continued as the report is ‘…one more piece of evidence showing the market is pricing in QE2,’ said a market strategist at Financial Network.

The private sector added 64,000 new jobs, which again failed to meet economists’ expectations.

The FTSE closed down 4 points to 5,657.61. Major mining stocks like Xstrata [LON: XTA] and Anglo American [LON: AAL] were higher for the day, gaining 2.86% and 2.31% respectively.

The Nikkei finished the week at 9,588.88, down by 95 points.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,368.16, while in US dollars it’s $1,353.68. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $23.45 and in US dollars it’s $23.45.

And the Aussie dollar was trading at higher this morning.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9894 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 81.01.

Crude Oil closed at USD$83.17.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.

Yesterday, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 79 points (1.73%), closing to 4,686.80. The Australian Bureau of Statistics releases the labour data for September, and it’s expected the unemployment rate will remain at 5.1%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to hold onto Tuesday’s gains, closing 22 points higher to 10,967.65. But, trading volume was lower than normal. The private sector in the U.S. lost 39,000 jobs last month, which is a sign the labour market is slowing. This could be another reason the Fed are looking for to get the printing presses ready.

However an America economist said, ‘We remain firmly of the view that a proper rise in payrolls cannot happen as long as small businesses, which employ half the work force, remain credit constrained.’

The FTSE got a few points closer to the 5,700 mark overnight, closing 45 points higher to 5,681.39. The UK’s central bank, Bank of England (BoE) meet tomorrow, however at this stage a rate change or further quantitative easing isn’t expected.

The Nikkei added 172 points, ending the day at 9,691.43.

Yet again, gold reached another record high yesterday of USD$1,349.80. The yellow metal has hit all new high in eight of the past ten trading sessions.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,379.57, while in US dollars it’s $1,347.24. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $23.68 and in US dollars it’s $23.12.

The disappointing employment data in the U.S. helped the Aussie dollar remain above 97 cents.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9769 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 81.00.

Oil declined after a surprising drop in stockpiles, and the weakening the greenback convinced traders to buy up on commodities. Crude Oil closed at USD$83.23.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed down 18 points to 4,606.90. The Reserve Bank shocked the most people yesterday by leaving rates unchanged. In the minutes following this announcement from the RBA, the Aussie dollar lost USD1.5 cents.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher by 193 points (1.8%) to 10,944.72. Data released from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed a slight growth in the U.S. services sector for September.

‘As long as the Fed is willing to print money, all these economic reports are going to be considered favorable for the markets. This will last for as long as the Fed is willing to backstop the stock market,’ said Bruce Bittles, a chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird.

Stronger financial and commodity stocks gave the FTSE a boost, rising 79 points (1.44%) to end the day at 5,635.76.

The Nikkei rallied 137 points, closing at 9,518.76. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) surprised the market by cutting the base rate to 0.1% and announcing a ¥5 trillion (AUD $61.8 billion) package to buy government bonds and other assets.

Gold climbed USD$25.30 an ounce last night on speculation the Fed will begin another round of quantitative easing soon. Silver gained over 3%.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,340.00, while in US dollars it’s $1,379.53. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $23.48 and in US dollars it’s $22.81.

The Aussie dollar erased yesterday’s losses and was higher overnight as commodity prices surged and the U.S. dollar weakened.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9711 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 80.82.

Crude Oil closed at USD$82.82.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed higher by 46 points to 4,625.30. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meets again today to finally put an end to the ‘Will they, Won’t they’ questions about a potential rate rise.

One article has suggested that inflation isn’t as threatening as it was first thought, and then on the other hand there’s this article which is expecting an increase of 25 basis points, and then the major banks to add their little clip on as well. Who’s right? We’ll know at 2.30pm.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 78 points, ending the day at 10,751.27. There was mixed economic data overnight. Existing house sales were higher 4.3% for August. Some analysts have viewed this data as a sign the housing market is stabilizing. New orders for U.S. factories fell 0.5 %, which was slightly higher than expected.

The third quarter earnings seasons kicks off in a couple more weeks, but some analysts feel that the Dow is ready to retreat after the September rally.

The FTSE dropped 36 points to close at 5,555.97. There was a surprising pick up in construction activity in the UK, however other data showed that employment fell creating a mixed picture of the economy for traders.

The Nikkei was down 23 points to 9,381.06.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,357.59, while in US dollars it’s $1,357.59. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $22.57 and in US dollars it’s $21.84.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9673 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 80.68.

Crude Oil closed at USD$81.36.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.

The S&P/ASX 200 was lower by 3 points on Friday, closing to 4,579.20. The market has opened higher this morning, however lighter volume is expected, as New South Wales has a public holiday today.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10,829.68, higher by 41 points. The market rallied on personal incomes and spending rising for August. But, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) index dropped to 54.4, down almost two points. While it was a decline, any reading above 50 indicates expanding activity.

Government employment data showed that only 75,000 jobs were added for the month of September, which is about half what is needed to offset natural growth in the market and keep the jobless rate from rising. You can read more about the jobs data here.

The FTSE closed up by 44 points to 5,592.90. Higher commodity prices helped pushed the index higher, along with Chinese manufacturing data showing the economy isn’t slowing as sharply as was first thought. Combined, these two factors helped to offset the mixed US data.

The Nikkei added 34 points, ending the week at 9,404.23.

Spot gold reached yet another high of USD$1,320.80 during the U.S. trading session. Silver also saw a thirty year high of USD$22.15.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,356.21, while in US dollars it’s $1,319.27. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $22.71 and in US dollars it’s $22.09.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9726 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 81.58.

Oil closed higher on Friday, driven by a weakening U.S. currency, and was higher by over 6% for the week. Crude Oil closed at USD$81.58.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.

The big four banks all ended in the red yesterday, which could be due to ratings agency Fitch announcing it will conduct its own ’stress test’ on Australian banks. Fitch will review what would happen to the banking system if mortgage defaults increase to 8% and property values drop by 40%.

Both Commonwealth [ASX: CBA] and Westpac [ASX: WBC] have the largest exposure to the housing market and closed lower by over 1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 22 points to 10,835.28. With no new economic data, there was little information to help investors decide which direction the market will take.

U.S. politicians voted in new legislation last night that would allow the U.S. Department of Commerce to decide if levies should be applied to imports from countries they feel have an undervalued currency. However, it still doesn’t guarantee that any levies will be applied.

Economist Robert Scott called this move a ‘…warning shot to the Chinese,’ as some Americans feel the Chinese have maintained their currency at artificially low levels.

Overnight, the FTSE closed down by 9 points to 5,569.27. The UK market declined on European recovery concerns and UK housing data, which showed a six month low in mortgage approvals.

The Nikkei closed 63 points higher to 9,559.38.

Gold remained above USD$1,300 as the Fed threatens the American economy with more stimulus.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,349.88, while in US dollars it’s $1,307.90. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $22.57 and in US dollars it’s $21.86.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9692 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 81.19.

Oil rose after U.S. government data showed stock piles decreased. Crude Oil closed at USD$77.85.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shrugged off the ordinary consumer confidence data, closing 46 points higher to 10,858.14. However, it appears that most traders took the weak data as a sign the Fed will intervene with more stimulus.

‘That’s the conventional wisdom of the market now, that if the economic reports are solid, the market will go up, and if they’re not, the Fed will do more stimulus and then the market will still go up,’ said the director of equity strategy at RBC Wealth Management.

Consumer confidence index dropped to 48.5, from 53.2 in August. This reading is what economists consider ‘quite grim’.

The FTSE added 5 points to end the day at 5,578.44. The index spent most of the day in the red, dragged lower by the U.S. data and sovereign debt worries.

Financial stocks were down on fears that ratings agency Moody’s will downgrade the rating on Spain’s debt. And, there are concerns that Irish losses will balloon out to €35 billion (AUD$49.1 billion) after bailing out the Anglo Irish Bank.

The Nikkei dropped 107 point, finishing at 9,495.76.

Spot gold has finally pushed past the USD$1,300 mark. This new high is a result of the weakening U.S. dollar and the drop in consumer confidence.

As a result of the new peak, talk has already started of the new level for gold to reach. Richard Ross at Auerbach & Grayson in New York believes that ‘We’re going to start talking about $1,350 very soon, with a ceiling likely around $1,380.’

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,353.81, while in US dollars it’s $1,309.42. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $22.47 and in US dollars it’s $21.73.

And the Aussie dollar could be getting ready for its biggest monthly gain, as traders are expecting the Reserve Bank of Australia to increase rates when they meet next week, potentially boosting the value of Aussie dollars.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9669 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 81.10.

Crude Oil closed at USD$76.18.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average backed off a little, closing down 48 points to 10,812.04.

Twenty four out of the thirty stocks that make up the Dow ended the day in the red. Most financial stocks were down, with Bank of America [NYSE: BAC] the biggest loser for the day, lower by 2.65%.

The FTSE closed 25 points lower to 5,573.42. So far, the Footsie is up 6% for September.

There were reminders that the European debt crisis is never too far away, as rating’s agency Moody’s downgraded the debt of Anglo Irish Bank to almost ‘junk’ status.

The Nikkei added 131 points, finishing at 9,603.14. Shares in consumer lending companies declined after news that Takefuji Corp [T: 8564] is filing for protection from creditors. The reason for the potential bankruptcy is said to be refunds for interest overpayments to borrowers.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,348.89, while in US dollars it’s $1,294.02. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $22.24 and in US dollars it’s $21.33.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.9592 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 80.84.

Crude Oil closed at USD$76.14.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you this morning, see you tomorrow.

Shae.