News Service from House Harris

Aust stocks set to rise on back of Wall Street rally

SYDNEY, Nov 30 AAP - The Australian stock market is expected to open stronger on Monday after a rally on Wall Street, before the focus turns to the next interest rate cut and the latest economic growth figures.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to again cut the official interest rate, this time by at least 0.75 of a percentage point.

And the latest national accounts report is tipped to show the Australian economy slowed further in the September quarter.

The Australian dollar is expected to remain within a range around 65 US cents before the RBA's interest rate decision on Tuesday, and the September quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers are released on Wednesday.

CommSec senior analyst Craig James expects the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index to rise about 30 points on Monday.

Shares in the US kept up a broad winning streak Friday with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 102.43 points or 1.17 per cent, to 8,829.04.

A report on Saturday showed US consumers, lured by deep discounts, spent nearly three per cent more on Black Friday than they did last year.

"We should get off to a pretty good start tomorrow as indicators are pointing in the right direction, including stocks in the US and Europe and gold," Mr James told AAP.

"Investors are concluding that Australia isn't in bad shape.

"Australia has levers such as interest rate cuts."

In late Friday trading on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was up 15 points at 3,746.

The S&P/ASX200 closed on Friday up 154.5 points, or 4.3 per cent, at 3742.5 - a gain of 9.5 per cent from the previous Friday after the biggest weekly rise on record.

The Australian dollar had settled around the 65 US cent mark, and currency investors would be watching this week's economic announcements closely, Mr James said.

"The Aussie dollar will be dictated by the interest rate announcement and national accounts," he said.

"It seems to have found a home around 65 cents."

The Australian dollar closed the week at 65.43 US cents, having gained about two US cents over the week.

Most economists surveyed by AAP expect the RBA to cut the cash rate by 0.75 of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent from 5.25 per cent, with some tipping an even larger reduction of a full percentage point.

The national accounts report is expected to show GDP grew by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter, for an annual rate of 1.9 per cent, as then-high interest rates crimped consumer spending and the global financial crisis sapped business confidence.

On Tuesday, as well as the RBA rates announcement, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports the retail trade data for October and balance of payments data for the September quarter.

Grocery wholesaler Metcash Ltd releases its first-half results that day.

On Thursday, the ABS releases the international trade in goods and services and building approvals figures for October.

"There's a lot happening over the week," Mr James said.