A quiet week is ahead for investors after the higher pace of activity in the wake of the meeting of the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, Bank of England and US Federal Reserve – the latter’s significant change in stance on the pace of future interest rates contributing to the continuation of the rebound on global markets.

Early tomorrow, our time, Apple will break with recent tradition and reveal its new iPhone and several other upgrades.

US crude oil prices ended lower on Friday after US shares rose on the day and the US oil rig count nudged higher for the first time since December. Gold and silver futures also dipped on Friday.

Wall Street rose, the US dollar sold off, driving the Aussie dollar to new 8 month highs, gold and oil rose as well, and the ASX is looking at yet another positive start today as a result.

A bit of this and a bit of that – in effect something for everyone from the February jobs report yesterday from the Bureau of Statistics.

Gold reversed course and rose strong, Wall Street bounced strongly and the Australian dollar leapt back over 75 US cents after the US Federal Reserve sat on its key interest rate for a second month and cut the number of possible interest rate rises over the remainder of this year from four to two.

The US Federal Reserve sat on interest rates for a second meeting, but firmed up the future path of US interest rates, but halved the number of increases that could occur in 2016.

Australia’s big four banks – ANZ, NAB, Westpac and the Commonwealth – are facing the potential of multi-billion dollar losses should the NZ dairy industry’s current crisis deepen and force farmers into financial restructuring, defaults, which in turn trigger sharp falls in the value of dairy farm land, leaving it unsaleable.

Shares in struggling transport group McAleese Corporation remain suspended despite the company finally reporting its December 31 financial results to the ASX on Tuesday evening. The interim results revealed another big loss after write-downs and impairments – this time $97.4 million.

A hesitant start to trading in Asian markets is on the cards today ahead of tonight’s meeting of the Fed and the release early tomorrow morning of the long expected statement from the US central bank, plus updated economic forecasts and chair Janet Yellen’s quarterly media conference.

So is the oil market turning for the better?

The 9 month battle for control of ports and rail group Asciano is over after the company’s board yesterday recommended a formal $9.05 billion takeover bid from suitors Qube Logistics and Brookfield Infrastructure and a gang of investment funds from Canada and Asia.

Berkshire Hathaway has a market value of $US350 billion, making it one of the largest companies in America and certainly the most complex.

Central banks will again dominate the week ahead – specifically the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of England.

The two-day meeting of the US Federal Reserve will dominate markets this week – even though our market will be up a tidy 40 points or more this morning after a solid close on Wall Street and the futures market.

Iron ore prices fell again on Friday night, trimming last week’s gains but still leaving the price above $US50 a tonne and up more than 17% in the past two weeks.

Real estate is back on centre stage in the Chinese economy, despite a set of weak retail sales and production data for January and February at the weekend.

The European Central Bank moved last night to expand its already huge and complex easing program by making it larger and more complex, and in doing so confused markets.

Forget the faster than expected rate of consumer price inflation in China in February and look to why it happened – the occurrence of the single largest demand boost each year in China – the week long Lunar New Year/Spring Festival which sees demand for all types of foodstuffs skyrocket.

So was the fall in home loans in January a good or a bad thing? Yesterday’s data was soft, especially lending to owner-occupiers and for the construction of new houses. Well, some commentators think it’s not a strong point because of the importance the solidly performing home lending and construction sector has been playing in the transition of the economy from the days of the mining investment boom.

Australia’s iron ore sector dominated by the likes of BHP Billiton, Rio and Fortescue, face another whacking today after global prices slid sharply yesterday and overnight to under the $US60 level.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has cut its key interest rate for the 5th time in a year, reducing the Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%, citing the weak outlook for growth internationally and slowing activity in the domestic economy.

More positive news from the economy, with business conditions and confidence still solid.

By any accounting China’s trade performance in February was weak and worrying – even after taking into account the Lunar New Year holiday and the impact of the week or more break in production, exports and imports (but not retailing and spending by consumers).

According to Reuters, China’s year on-year fall in exports in February was the steepest since May 2009 and imports were not all that healthy as well.

So how long will it last? Goldman Sachs believes it will be short lived – but the current rally in iron ore took off yesterday jumping 19% on hopes the new Chinese five year plan and other policy moves will mean higher deficit spending and investment.

The commodity rebound continued on Friday, concentrated in metals and energy, and helped push the Aussie dollar back above 74 US cents and on the way to 75 cents.

Global markets finished in the green overnight Friday, setting up our market for a solid 30 to 40 point rise when trading re-opens on the ASX later this morning.

China’s Communist Party government has tacitly accepted that the country’s economic growth is going to remain sluggish for the next five years as the country continues to move from its investment boom to consumption led growth.