By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3% in early APAC deals on Friday, following a record close on Wall Street overnight as investors proved optimistic as the Federal Reserve announced its long-awaited taper yesterday, while Q3 corporate earnings season continues to impress.
Here’s 5 things to watch throughout today’s session:
RBA Monetary Policy Statement
First up in the session the RBA will issue its statement on monetary policy, assessing current domestic and international economic conditions and the outlook for Australian inflation and output growth. Meantime, the RBA and APRA issued a joint statement yesterday addressing climate change, noting that “The RBA will conduct analysis to monitor the implications of climate change and related mitigation policies for the economy and the transmission of monetary policy through financial markets and the banking system to households and businesses.”
U.S. Stocks at Record Highs
Both the NASDAQ Composite and the S&P 500 closed at fresh record highs overnight as earnings season continues. Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY) surged 13.21% after reporting third-quarter results that topped estimates. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) was up more than 12.73% after reporting better-than-expected results. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) jumped more than 12% as analysts hiked price targets on expectations that demand for its virtual platform Omniverse will benefit from the potential metaverse opportunity.
Crude Oil Retreats
WTI crude oil and Brent crude oil both retreated to 3-week lows overnight after OPEC agreed to stick to its production growth plans. Energy companies to watch include Santos Ltd (ASX:STO), Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL), and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT).
REA Group Reports
Rea Group Ltd (ASX:REA) will also be on watch today as it releases its first quarter update, with protracted lockdowns across both Melbourne and Sydney expected to impact the company's performance, offsetting some of the benefits of the booming housing market. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is currently forecasting full year EBITDA growth of 8.6% in FY 2022.
US October Jobs Report
Investors are awaiting the release of October nonfarm payroll numbers later in the session as market participants look for clues as to whether the US jobs market is healthy enough to begin hiking rates next year. Analysts are predicting 450,000 jobs added. September’s report tallied 194,000 additional jobs, far short of the 500,000 estimate.