Thanks Zero and morning crew.
Half-time round-up:
Australian shares this morning turned positive for the first time this week after strong jobs data fired Wall Street to fresh highs overnight.
At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 50 points or 0.9% ahead at 5788, positioning the index for a second week of gains. While a positive close today would mark a fourth straight daily advance, progress had been modest until this morning.
The mood on global markets brightened overnight after a gauge of US employment came in much stronger than predicted, raising expectations for tonight's official May government jobs report. ADP's report said private sector employment in the US rose by 253,000 jobs last month, against a predicted 185,000. The news helped drive the S&P 500 up 18 points or 0.76%. The mood continued to improve this morning, with Dow futures recently up 62 points or 0.29%.
"US data has given the equity bulls some inspiration," IG strategist Chris Weston told
Fairfax. "The ADP private payrolls reported 253,000 jobs created in May, well above consensus and it gives us hope at least that tonight's non-farm payrolls will be close enough to the consensus print of 182,000."
IT led the domestic rally, rising 1.6%, followed by telecoms +1.2%, consumer staples +1.1% and financials +1.1%. The utilities sector fell back 1.5%.
While China's Shanghai Composite eased 0.56%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng put on 0.31% and Japan's Nikkei 1.41%.
Crude oil futures declined 27 cents or 0.56% this morning to US$48.09 a barrel. Gold futures sagged $7.60 or 0.6% to US$1,262.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 73.9 US cents.
Bullish market signals this morning from US equity futures and gold (in latter case, traders rotating out of a defensive asset - same story here with utilities sector). Traders anticipating another equity bull run if US jobs come in strong tonight. Trading: a lousy week, not so much for the occasional loss as the troubling absence of opportunity. Don't think I can recall a slower week. Even the bots seemed to go on strike. Whatever happens next week, let there be motion in one direction or the other. ZLD offered some hope this morning. Finally in profit on API but it's been a long time since I held a share this long to see a return. What am I, some kind of investor or something?
