The S&P/ASX200 gained 60 points, or 1.33%, to close at 4,612.60. The Chinese announcement of more flexibility in the Yuan helped our market push higher for the day. However, following the US lead the index is already down over 30 points this morning.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was unable to hang onto the 100 point rally it started the session with, closing to 10,442.41, lower by 8 points. The downgrading of a French bank reminded the US the European debt saga is far from over.

Adding to the drop in the Dow, is the worry that more movement in Yuan will essentially mean higher cost products to already cash strapped consumers. As a result, Wal-Mart [NYSE: WMT] was lower by 1%.

The FTSE ended the day higher by 48 points to 5,299.11. Mining stocks all received a boost from the news the China will relax the peg to the US dollar.

The Nikkei added 242 points to close at 10,238.01.

Gold dropped off nearly USD$20 an ounce overnight, but the decline has been attributed to profit taking after reaching record highs.

The price of spot gold in Australian dollars is $1,409.08, while in US dollars it’s $1,236.58. The price of silver in Australian dollars is $21.38 and in US dollars it’s $18.76.

The Aussie dollar versus US dollar is AUDUSD 0.8777 and against the Japanese Yen it’s AUDJPY 77.25.

Crude Oil closed at USD$77.25.

For the biggest movers on the market yesterday click here…

That’s all I have for you today, see you tomorrow.
Shae.