Company Interview / the open: ASX to rise after Wall Street record

After what was a positive session here yesterday, the local market is expected to power 41 points higher at the open. 

This was off the back of another record closing high for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 as momentum continues to push markets higher. In what was a rally inspired by a positive portion of solid earnings, and economic data, US President Trump also further backed-off his tough-talk around firing the Fed Chair. 

On the economic front overnight, retail sales increased 0.6% in June, following a 0.9% drop in May, whilst hospitality sales rose 0.6%, indicating that people are in fact spending. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims fell 7,000 to 221,000 thousand, which is the lowest since the April month. 

The US dollar rose, whilst the Australian dollar is trading at US64.88c on that back of softer labour data which was released yesterday.