Good morning! I’ll be here to guide you through the latest finance and economic news.

The local share market is likely to open higher, with ASX futures pointing to a moderate increase of around 0.7%.

If that happens, there’s a chance the market will hit a new record high today.

The Australian dollar is slightly weaker (-0.6%) at 66.65 US cents.

In economic news, the latest jobs data will be published by the Bureau of Statistics (ABS) at 11:30am.

It’s expected to show Australia’s unemployment rate remaining steady at 4.2% in September (with the possibility it might even rise slightly to 4.3%), according to economists polled by Reuters.

Around 25,000 workers are estimated to have started new jobs last month (which would be a significant slowdown from the August result of 47,5000 new hires).

The Reserve Bank will be paying close attention to these job numbers.

If they show the jobs market is stronger-than-expected, there is a risk it will force the RBA to keep interest rates on hold for longer and, therefore, delay any cuts to borrowing costs.

Dow Jones hits record high

Australian shares are expected to follow a positive overnight lead from US markets.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.8%, to finish at 43,078 points (its highest level ever), while Wall Street’s two other benchmark indexes, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, rose 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.

On a broadly positive day for Wall Street, it was financial stocks which led the way.

Morgan Stanley posted a record close, jumping 6.5%, as it was the latest bank to report better-than-expected profits, following a sharp lift in investment banking revenue.

Among the big-tech names which weighed on the market, Apple dipped 0.9% (after hitting a record high in the previous session).

Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft all slipped between 0.2% and 1.6%.

AI chipmaker Nvidia bucked the megacap slide, rising 3.1%  (after slumping nearly 5% in the previous trading session).

Gains in the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ group of high-growth tech stocks have driven most of Wall Street’s record-breaking run this year.

However, with valuations increasingly stretched and a brighter economic outlook, investors have been seeking opportunities elsewhere (like financial, energy, materials and other traditional ‘value’ sectors).