Investing.com - The Australian stock market lifted after the first hour of Friday's trade, inspired by a rally in US stocks following data that indicated a consistent, albeit slow, growth in retail and producer prices. Market sentiment seems to be buoyed by the robust US consumer market and a resilient labor sector, which are expected to sustain the positive market trend.
As of 10:20am AEST (12:10am AEST) on Friday, the ASX 200 added 100.1 points or 1.4% to 7,268.6 while ASX 200 Futures were up 0.2%. US stocks also showed broad-based growth, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average on course for its best day since August 7. This growth comes in the wake of the latest retail sales and producer prices data, which showed a rise due to higher energy prices. At the same time, weekly jobless claims remained at historically low levels, indicating a healthy labor market.
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Market participants seemed to overlook the recent inflation rebound on Thursday, instead opting to invest in stocks. The belief driving this behavior is that a strong US consumer base and a resilient labor market will keep the market buoyant.
In Europe, bank shares saw an uptick following the European Central Bank's decision to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. This move, the tenth consecutive rate hike, takes the deposit rate to an all-time high of 4%, as the bank continues to combat inflation.
Meanwhile, in Asia, Chinese shares ended mixed as the market anticipates key economic indicators for August. These indicators, which include retail sales, retail sales, and fixed assets investment data, will provide further insight into the effectiveness of Beijing's stimulus measures in boosting consumer and property demand.
In the commodities market, Brent crude oil experienced a 1.98% increase to $US93.70 a barrel, while gold remained flat at $US1,910.48. Iron ore prices also rose by 1.6% to $US121.30 a tonne.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar rose to 64.34 US cents from its previous close of 64.20 US cents. The US Dollar Index which measures the US dollar against 16 other currencies, also edged higher to 99.36.
In bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds remained flat at 3.84%, while the yield on 10 Year bonds saw a slight decrease to 4.10%. In contrast, yields on 2 Year US Treasury notes and 10 Year US Treasury notes edged higher to 5.01% and 4.29% respectively.