ASX breaks above 7000

The news: The benchmark ASX 200 broke back above 7000 for the first time since the start of October, lifting 1% for the the day and closing at 7040.60. The All Ordinaries also gained 1%. The lift followed dovish rhetoric from US Federal Reserve members and a rally on Wall St overnight. The Aussie dollar is fetching USD0.641 and is back in range of its monthly open after dropping as low as USD0.629 last week.

The numbers: Oil prices have settled slightly after jumping more than 4% on Monday following as conflict unfolded in Israel. Brent crude is selling for USD84.25 a barrel. All Australian sectors finished in the green, with rallies in utilities (+4.2%), IT stocks (+3.0%) and communication services (+2.2%). Origin Energy shares lifted more than 5% after its takeover by Brookfield and EIG was rubber stamped by the ACCC.

The context: Reserve Bank assistant governor for financial markets Christopher Kent will discuss channels of transmission at the Bloomberg Address in Sydney tomorrow. European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde will appear on a financial stability panel at this week's IMF and World Bank meetings overnight and FOMC members Christopher Waller and Neel Kashkari will also speak before Australian markets open tomorrow.