Gold has risen to near a five-month peak on a weaker dollar and on expectations the pace of US interest rate hikes will slow, with the bullion also getting support from falling equities.
Oil fell about three per cent in choppy overnight trade after OPEC and allied exporting countries ended a meeting without announcing a decision to cut crude output, and prepared to debate the matter the next day.
US stocks have closed slightly lower, but well above their session lows, as the arrest of a Chinese technology executive fanned fears of US-China tensions over trade, while some beaten-up big technology and internet shares posted gains.
The state budget will be in surplus in 2019/20, according to Premier Mark McGowan, while a $421 million expansion of the Keystart program for first homebuyers and a move to reduce red tape will be two new policies to support the local economy.
Opinion: All signs point to a tough year ahead as international trade events meet tightening credit conditions amidst falling house prices and likely changes to negative gearing.
Gold has slipped on expectations of more interest rate hikes following remarks from a US Federal Reserve official and as some investors booked profits after prices hit their highest in more than five weeks.
Global stocks have fallen, plagued by a flattening yield curve that sparked concerns about an economic slowdown in the United States and weakening expectations of a lasting US-China trade truce, while the US dollar steadied.
Oil prices dipped overnight ahead of a meeting of the world's biggest exporters, who will discuss cutting output to help shore up prices and curb excess supply.
A 10 per cent surge in the level of business investment in machinery and equipment has helped Western Australia’s state final demand grow 0.4 per cent in the September quarter, as national economic data surprised on the downside.
Wall Street has tumbled more than 3 per cent, led lower by bank and industrial shares, as the US bond market sent unsettling signs about economic growth and investors worried anew about global trade.
Oil prices pared gains in a volatile trade overnight as fears flared that demand would stall due to a trade war between the US and China, and that Russia remained a stumbling block to a deal to cut global crude supply.
The Reserve Bank has kept the official cash rate at a record low and reiterated its economic growth forecasts, but is keeping a close eye on the stumbling east coast housing markets.
Oil prices jumped nearly four per cent after the United States and China agreed to a 90-day truce in a trade dispute and Canada's Alberta province ordered a production cut, while exporter group OPEC looked set to reduce supply.
Gold gained one per cent overnight, hitting its highest in more than three weeks, boosted by a sell-off in the dollar after the United States and China called a truce on fresh trade tariffs for 90 days.
Wall Street has risen as investors hope for progress on trade in a critical US-China meeting over the weekend, and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their biggest weekly percentage gains in nearly seven years.
Gold fell as the dollar strengthened ahead of trade talks between the US and Chinese leaders at the G20 summit, while palladium prices crossed the $US1,200 per ounce mark for the first time.
Oil prices edged lower due to concerns of oversupply and a strong dollar but losses were limited by expectations that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia would agree some form of production cut next week.
Oil reversed course and rose as much as three per cent overnight after industry sources said Russia had accepted the need to cut production, together with OPEC ahead of its meeting next week.
Gold held steady but pared some gains as the dollar recovered and minutes from the US Federal Reserve's recent meeting showed an interest rate hike was imminent in December.
Gold prices have risen by as much as one per cent from two-week lows as the US dollar tumbled after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that interest rates were near normal, soothing investor worries over the pace of rate hikes.
