Thanks Jim/Oscar and morning crew. Half-time round-up: A third...

Thanks Jim/Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

A third day of gains pushed Australian shares back towards pre-Brexit levels as central banks signalled they will cushion the global economy from any fallout.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 33 points or 0.6% stronger at 5267 after earlier climbing to within three points of last week's highest close. Gold stocks led the rally, rising 4.5%, followed by metals & mining +3.4%, materials +2.7% and the Small Ords +1.6%. The industrial sector eased 0.1%.

Overnight, European and US markets continued their recovery after Bank of England chief Mark Carney indicated he is likely to cut rates further this year. The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan have also indicated their willingness to enact market-friendly measures if needed.

“Markets are reacting positively to the supportive interest rate environment,” Chris Green, director of economics and strategy at First NZ Capital Group, told Bloomberg. “With interest rates remaining low for longer, the concern is what policy options are left for central banks if we see an even softer patch for the global economy.”

China's Shanghai Composite improved 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei 0.66%. Trading on Hong Kong's Hang Seng was suspended for a public holiday. Dow futures were recently off 13 points or 0.07%.

Crude oil futures bounced 30 cents or 0.62% this morning to US$48.63 a barrel. Gold futures were $9.30 or 0.7% firmer at US$1,329.90 an ounce. The dollar was buying 74.5 US cents.


A wild ride, but here we are, pretty much back where we were before the UK referendum. We really going to get off that lightly? Seems so, so long as there is a central bank left somewhere on the planet with room to lower interest rates. Given gold another leg-up.  Trading: took a couple of pips out of the AGY panic. More recently into AKM for any arvo recovery.