US shares have advanced and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record for a second day, after American economic data fuelled a rise in Treasury yields, lifting financial stocks.
Brent crude rose nearly two per cent after hitting a four-year high on overnight as the market focused on upcoming US sanctions on Iran, while shrugging off the year's largest weekly build in US crude stockpiles and reports of higher Saudi Arabian and Russian production.
Gold eased overnight after the Italian government indicated it was open to trimming its budget deficit and debt, soothing investors' nerves and prompting a wider move back into stocks and other higher-risk assets.
Gold Corporation chairman Don Mackay-Coghill has launched a broadside against the loose monetary policy of central banks in the past decade, warning it has inflated a big bubble.
Oil prices eased slightly after rallying for three straight sessions, but remained close to four-year highs on worries that global supplies will drop due to Washington's sanctions on Iran.
Gold hit its highest in more than a week overnight, vaulting the $US1,200 per ounce mark, as investors sought refuge in the metal after stock markets sold off due to anti-euro comments by an Italian lawmaker.
Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe says Australia can expect inflation to rise, but unemployment to fall past its current six-year low of 5.3 per cent, as the central bank left the cash rate unchanged at 1.5 per cent for the 26th month in a row.
US stocks have advanced, led by gains in shares of technology and industrial companies, as a last-minute deal to save NAFTA as a trilateral pact raised hopes for progress in talks with other countries at the start of the fourth quarter.
Gold fell as investors favoured riskier assets after the United States and Canada salvaged NAFTA as a trilateral trade pact with Mexico, while expectations that a strong US economy would lead to higher borrowing costs also influenced sentiment.
Oil futures jumped more than $US2 a barrel, rising to levels not seen since November 2014, as US sanctions on Iran loom and a North American trade deal fosters growth.
Wall Street ended flat on Friday as gains by Intel, real estate companies and utilities offset a drop in Facebook after the social media network disclosed a fresh security breach.
Oil prices rose more than a percent, with Brent climbing to a four-year high, as US sanctions on Tehran squeezed Iranian crude exports, tightening supply even as other key exporters increased production.
Gold inched higher but was on track for its longest monthly losing streak since January 1997 as the US dollar firmed against the euro after Italy's budget jitters threatened the European currency.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has demanded the banks and regulators fix an insidious culture of greed over honesty outlined in a scathing interim report of the Financial Services Royal Commission.
Wall Street has climbed, helped by gains in Apple, Alphabet and Facebook, as well as the US Federal Reserve's confidence in the strength of the economy after it raised rates for the third time this year.
The state government remains hopeful Busselton can become the second site for a Qantas pilot academy, pledging up to $1.7 million and formally committing to a new $13 million terminal if the South West town is chosen.
Job vacancies in Western Australia have reached their highest level in more than five years, while the state's mining industry has hit a record level of employment.
Health stocks have helped Wall Street edge higher, although banks have slipped ahead of a widely expected interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
Oil prices eased after US data showed a surprise build in domestic crude inventories, but an impending drop in Iranian exports kept Brent futures above $US80 a barrel and on track for a fifth straight quarterly gain.
Gold prices held onto earlier losses as the US dollar trimmed gains after the Federal Reserve raised US interest rates as expected and forecast three more years of economic growth.
Grants from the federal government and delayed dividend payments from state-owned enterprises have helped the state government report an operating deficit 73 per cent below forecast in the 2018 financial year, while the non-trade economy has grown after a sustained period of shrinking.
