It was a mostly positive session for international markets on Friday with the tech-heavy NASDAQ index performing particularly strongly. The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) appears set to follow suite this morning with the futures market pointing to a 34-point rise.
Here's a quick recap:
- FTSE 100 (UK): up 0.25%
- DAX (Germany): up 0.64%
- CAC 40 (France): up 0.71%
- Dow Jones (USA): up 0.14%
- NASDAQ (USA): up 2.2%
Investors could pay particularly close attention to some of the market's biggest technology stocks today after a surge in some of the world's biggest businesses on Friday. That could include the likes of WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) and Altium Limited (ASX: ALU).
Shares such as Japara Healthcare Ltd (ASX: JHC), Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) could also receive some attention. All three of those businesses featured amongst the market's top-performing stocks last week, rising between 8% and 10% each.
Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), on the other hand, dropped 6.7% for the week, including a 5.6% fall on Friday. The same can be said for iSentia Group Ltd (ASX: ISD) which tanked more than 41% over the week.
It could also be worth keeping an eye on businesses across the resources space. During the latest session, gold and Brent oil prices both edged higher while iron ore dropped 2.3%, according to The Metal Bulletin.
