The ASX has been slowly creeping northwards, up 0.2%, has been on a very strong run recently, but those highs look to be supplying a degree of resistance. Telecommunications performing rather poorly down 3%, being helped down by Telstra, while Energy continuing is good recent run leading the market up 1%. Telstra expects earnings to be at the bottom end of its full-year guidance range and has flagged challenging conditions to continue in the year ahead.
The XAO and XJO sitting around 20-30 odd points off setting a new 10 year highs (surpassing the highs from early January).
Several top strategists are optimistic that the ASX can extend a sharp rally that started about six weeks ago and break through a 10-year high. The S&P/ASX 200 Index is up by around 6.2 per cent since the start of April, outperforming the S&P 500 index by around 3.3%, and is not too far behind a 7%+ rise for the DAX.
Seems to be a certain degree of optimism appeared over the weekend regarding the China-US relations right now, the power of a tweet. ZTE suspended its main operations earlier this month following a U.S. ban forbidding American companies from supplying to it after the Chinese firm was found to have violated U.S. export restrictions by illegally shipping U.S. goods to Iran. Trump held out a helping hand on Sunday as he tweeted that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping are working together on a solution for ZTE.
Here's a midday crypto update for a change of pace.
