Can investors hold their nerve today on the back of gains by European and US equities and a sharp bounce in the iron ore price?
Traders are reluctant to make a call with the futures market pricing in a flat start for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO).
It's anyone's guess given the wild intra-day swings in the market over the past two weeks although I think our market will finish the last trading day of the week on a positive note as resource stocks are expected to outperform.
Iron ore producers like Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) will be in the spotlight with the price of the steel making ingredient surging 9.9% to $US48.99 a tonne following the previous day's 10% collapse.
You can expect more volatility in the commodity given the magnitude of price moves in recent weeks but Atlas Iron Limited's (ASX: AGO) managing director is playing down the threat of this on the miner as Atlas is trying to raise capital to save the company.
Energy stocks like Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) and copper miners like Sandfire Resources NL (ASX: SFR) should also enjoy good support after the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price jumped 2.3% to $US52.84 a barrel and copper advanced 2.1% to $US2.55 a pound in overnight trade.
Elsewhere, construction giant Cimic Group Ltd (ASX: CIM) will be in focus after it subsidiary won a $244 million contract to build Adelaide's Torrens Road to River Torrens Project. Bloomberg also reports that the company has secured a $1.2 billion building project in Hong Kong.
There's more good news for the sector from South Australia. Construction and property investment group Lend Lease Group (ASX: LLC) is one of the two shortlisted by the state government for the $620 million Darlington upgrade project.
Casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) is also a step closer to building a casino in Brisbane after its board signed off on the bid, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) will be under scrutiny after a number of hospital operators have banded together to accuse the health insurer of strong arm tactics that threatens to push dying and chronically ill patients into the public system, reports the AFR.
Medibank is in the midst of tense negotiations with health care operators as it tries to control burgeoning costs.
Toll road operator Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) is another to watch as it released its traffic and revenue numbers for the June quarter, while embattled uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia Limited (ASX: ERA) issued its quarterly review and resource update for its Ranger 3 Deeps project. You can read more about the miner's problems here.
