AU Morning Wrap: ASX 200 to Rise, Life360 Release Earnings

• Wall Street indexes rose Thursday, Dow notches 7th consecutive day of gains

• ASX gain, Suncorp and QBE retreat after results

• Stocks to watch: Suncorp Group, QBE, Helia, Metcash, Life360

Markets rose in part after U.S. weekly initial jobless claims came in high at 231,000 -- their highest level since August, and well above the 212,000 reading that economists had expected.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins spoke at an MIT event Wednesday, where she signaled interest rates will likely need to be held at a two-decade high for longer than previously thought, Bloomberg reported. She said slower growth was necessary to ensure inflation was on a path to 2%, and would not say when the Fed would cut.

Australian shares pushed higher minutes after opening on Friday, tracking a positive session on Wall Street after data reinforced expectations of interest rate cuts in the world's largest economy.

Out of the 11 sectors, eight were flashing green with communications and energy leading gains.

Spot gold +1.2% to $US2335.40/oz at 2.04pm in New York;

Brent crude +0.1% to $US83.62 a barrel;

Iron ore +1.3% to $US116.20 a tonne.

4:00pm – GBP – GDP, construction output, goods trade balance, industrial production, manufacturing production, business investment

10:30pm – CAD – Employment change, unemployment rate

12:00am – University of Michigan consumer sentiment and inflation expectations