The Australian market looks all but certain to make it 10 winning sessions in a row today, with yesterday’s rate cut combining with a rally on U.S. markets overnight and a rebound in oil prices to fuel the bulls.

The March SPI futures contract is up 99 points, at 5742.

Consumers are waiting to find out whether their lenders will pass on a quarter of a percentage point rate cut after the RBA cut the cash rate to 2.25 per cent on Tuesday.

Bank of Queensland has already passed the cut on in full but we’re yet to hear from the majors.

Oil prices continued their recent rally, adding a further 5% overnight on hopes of rebounding global energy demand, with with Brent and WTI striking $57.23 and $51.56 respectively at one point.

Economic news slated for release today includes the Australian Industry Group Performance of Services Index for January.

In equities news, Echo Entertainment is expected to post half year earnings results.

Key numbers:

• SPI futures up 99 pts at 5742
• AUD at 77.82 US cents, 91.30 Japanese yen, 67.67 Euro cents and 51.29 British pence
• On Wall St, S&P 500 +1%, Dow +1.5%, Nasdaq +0.6%
• In Europe, Stoxx 50 +1.3%, FTSE +1.3%, CAC +1.1%, DAX +0.6%
• Spot gold down $US11.46 or 0.9% to $US1262.95 an ounce
• Iron ore adds 1.2% to $US63.18 per metric tonne
• Brent oil up $US3.40 or 6.2% to $US58.15 per barrel

What’s on today

Australia: Ai Group PSI;

New Zealand: employment and unemployment data;

China: HSBC PMI composite/services;

US: ISM non-manufacturing.

Stocks to watch

In London trading, BHP Billiton gained 5.02 per cent to 1558.50 pence and Rio Tinto climbed 3.88 per cent to 3076.00 pence.

Commonwealth Bank is staying “neutral” on Kathmandu Holdings after the outdoor clothing retailer provided a disappointing 1H15 trading update as well as maiden 1H15 quantitative earnings guidance. CBA dropped the price target to $1.55 a share from $2.24 previously.

RBC Capital Markets has a “sector perform” on BC Iron and a price target of 80¢ a share. “Despite the improved quarter, BCI remains a challenging investment proposition, in our view, given the weak iron ore sentiment and muted cash generation.”

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