Thanks Oscar and morning regulars. Half-time round-up:...

Thanks Oscar and morning regulars.


Half-time round-up:

Australian shares look set to welcome the new financial year with a second straight rise as US equity futures shrug off Greece's debt default.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was trading 33 points or 0.6% ahead at 5492 as takeover action and upbeat domestic and Chinese economic data offset uncertainty over the outlook for Greece after the government failed to repay US $1.7 billion to the International Monetary Fund this morning.

The industrials sector jumped 3.8% after a takeover offer for port operator AIO from a Canadian company. Also strong were health +1.3%, energy +1.3% and financials +0.9%, offsetting falls in gold -1.5%, metals & mining -1.6% and utilities -0.4%.

The rally came after Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens downplayed Australia's exposure to events in Europe: "In terms of our exposures - Australia's exposures are minuscule directly," he told a London forum overnight. "So I would anticipate that there's unlikely to be material issues for us unless there was a major ruction in global markets, and in that world everybody's affected. I think we're in good shape."

Building approvals increased twice as much as expected during May, according to ABS figures released this morning. Approvals rebounded 2.4% after slumping 5.2% in April.

A gauge of Chinese factory activity held steady at 50.2 last month, below expectations but above the level that indicates expanding activity. Services activity picked up to 53.8 from a May reading of 53.2.

US equity futures rallied this morning. Dow futures were recently ahead 59 points or more than 0.3%.

Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.22% and China's Shanghai Composite 0.17%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was closed for a public holiday.

Crude oil futures slid 66 cents this morning to US$58.81 a barrel. Spot gold was $2.20 firmer at US$1,174 an ounce. The dollar was buying 77.22 US cents.


Looks a lot like Greece is now factored in, at least until the next major development. So up we go. Well done if you got in yesterday - I thought I had a pretty good day but when I looked through the charts this morning I realised I'd missed, oh, about a hundred bounce opportunities. Slimmer pickings this morning. Took NOR at 2.9c, AWC at $1.46 and CSR at $3.51.