Australian shares are heading for a third straight weekly loss after an early rally faded despite strong overnight leads and solid gains in Asia.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 18 points or 0.4% at 4200 after earlier reaching 4214, but the benchmark index was 45 points below where it started the week. All sectors improved except gold (-0.1%), fronted by IT +1.6%, consumer staples +1.2% and consumer discretionary +0.9%. Billabong jumped 50% after knocking back a take-over offer from a private-equity firm and announcing the loss of 400 jobs.
Asian markets were more bullish, with Japan again a standout as a weakening yen boosted exporters. The Nikkei rallied 1.73%, Shanghai 0.51% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.08%. Dow futures were recently up 13 points or 0.1%.
"When there's a bit of relief from the European front, the markets can focus on fundamentals, which seem to be improving by the day," Prasad Patkar of Platypus Asset Management in Sydney told Bloomberg. "It's a distinct improvement from the fourth quarter last year from the perspective of investor confidence and risk appetite."
Crude oil futures rallied 17 cents this morning to US$102.47 a barrel. Spot gold was $2.50 stronger at US$1,732.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying US$1.0793.
New day, same script: open high, finish low. Tough to trade unless you're shorting. Just one buy so far - grabbed a few AKK on pullback. Well done to those in the money this morning.
