Shares strengthened for a third day, fuelled by gains for the big banks and defensive sectors, but finished the morning well off the intraday high.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 3 points or 0.06% at 4645 following a flat session for the big miners and losses among property trusts, energy and IT stocks. Utilities topped sector gains, up 1.5%, ahead of telecoms up 1% as takeover action in the US overnight encouraged buyer interest in the sector.
"The banks have come back a fair way from where they were," Jamie Elgar, investment adviser with Burrell Stockbroking told Fairfax. "There is a little bit of weakness in BHP and Rio and Woodside is coming off the top after a good three-day run."
Japanese stocks played catch-up following yesterday's market holiday, with the Nikkei recently ahead 3.22%. Shanghai turned negative, trading recently 0.24% weaker, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was near flat at +0.02%. Dow futures were recently at a mildly bearish -18.
Crude oil futures rallied 33 cents this morning to $102.62 a barrel. Spot gold was $2.80 stronger at $1,429.80 an ounce. The dollar was buying US $1.0052.
Perhaps a hint of buyer fatigue this morning after four and a half days of bargain hunting. Our market peaked early and doesn't have any urgency about it. US futures aren't helping, although it's hard to say who's leading who there. The best of the bounce-trade entries were last week, which is one reason I'm struggling to find trades this week. Just one completed this morning - the early run on ALZ.
