International markets resumed their winning ways overnight with solid gains across all major bourses.

In Europe the FTSE added 46 points (+0.9%), whilst the CAC (+2.4%) and DAX (+2.2%) were significantly stronger.

Stateside, the Dow Jones jumped 103 points (+0.9%) to settle at 11519, whilst the S&P 500 (+1%) and Nasdaq (+0.8%) enjoyed similar gains.

The gains came as European leaders provided a road map to deal with the region's debt crisis and amid Federal Reserve discussions about further asset purchases.

The US dollar fell to a three-week low against the euro after the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting showed some policy makers saw 'considerable uncertainty' that US economic growth will pick up.

Conversely, the Aussie dollar rallied strongly overnight, reaching back to US$1.02 amid increased risk appetite.

Oil retreated overnight, falling for the first day in six after the IEA reduced its demand forecast. The black gold slipped 0.3% to settle at US$85.57.

Copper rose to a two-week high amid increased investor optimism. Copper added 3.1%, whilst gold also advanced, adding 1.3% to settle at US$1683 an ounce.

Today's session will bring us data in the form of the Melbourne Institute inflation expectations (11:00am, AEDT) as well as the all-important employment change and unemployment rate numbers (11:30am, AEDT).