Sydney, July 9, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Australian shares could pick up steam on Monday, buoyed by gains on Wall Street, while a surge in oil prices is likely to boost energy firms. Rio Tinto could be in focus after renewed rumours it's considering gate-crashing Alcoa's $28.6 billion hostile bid for Canada's Alcan.

Turning to the markets, on Friday, the ASX was down 11 points finishing at 6,351. On the futures market the SPI200 is up 41.

To currencies, the Australian dollar recovered losses, edging back up towards its 18-year high against the US currency on yield-related demand. At 8:30 AM the Aussie dollar is buying 85.8 US cents, on the crosses the dollar has hit 16-year high against the yen for the third consecutive session and is buying 105.96 yen, 62.95 Euro cents, and 42.66 British pence

The full report is available at the following video and audio links.

Video Link

http://www.finnewsnetwork.com/asxgen/get_asx.aspx?site=abnnewswire&intro=MBL_AuOutlook.wmv&media=preopening(Broadband).wmv&content_type=BUSINESS_REPORT&date=20070709


Audio Link

http://www.finnewsnetwork.com/asxgen/get_asx.aspx?site=abnnewswire&media=preopening.wma&content_type=BUSINESS_REPORT&date=20070709