Commentary

Markets remain positive after yesterdays huge rally with all focus now on the Non-Farm Payrolls tonight.Australian markets remain stable after Labor gained another independent and inched closer to being able to form a Government.The whole House of Cards now rests on the conservative,rural 'three amigos' who may have been influenced by the Labor Governments slow accrual of support and the Liberals faux pas over costings.Aussie remains remarkably stable supported by growing risk appetite in the global markets.AUD holds just below 0.9100 and KIWI trades around 0.7115.The ECB left rates unchanged at 1%, as expected, and strong Bond issues from Spain and France meant solid support for the EUR at 1.2800 and GBP 1.5375.Stable markets continued through US trade with some mixed economic data.Chain Store Sales rose and Weekly Jobless Claims fell 6,000 to 472,000.Pending Home Sales rose an unexpected 5.2% and Factory Orders held a marginal rise of 0.1%.Non farm productivity fell 1.8% showing tenuous gains overall.All markets now focus on the all important Non-Farm Payrolls and expectations are for losses around the 100,000 mark.Substantial divergence from this in either direction will drive the market to the positive or negative in terms of equities and currencies.

Headlines

30/8 US Personal Income and Spending, NZ Trade Bal, NBNZ Bus Conf.

31/8 S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index,Consumer Confidence Index,Fomc Minutes, NZ Build Consents, AU Retail Sales.

1/9 US Auto Sales,Weekly Mortgage Applications,Challenger Jobs Report,ADP Employment Report,ISM Manufacturing Index,Construction Spending, AU GDP, NZ Comm Price Ind.

2/9 US Chain Store Sales,Weekly Jobless Claims,Productivity,Factory Orders,Pending Home Sales, AU Trade Bal

3/9 August Jobs Report,ISM Services Report