Australian shares are within reach of an eight-month closing high, supported by solid gains in resource stocks.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 16 points or 0.4% at 4365, a closing level last seen in early August last year. Resource stocks again provided the main impetus behind the rally, pushing the metals & mining sector up 0.8%, materials 0.8% and energy 0.7%.
"It's a little more positive than I would have thought," CMC chief market analyst David Land told Fairfax. "We're certainly seeing some of the big miners carrying on yesterday's gains which is the main driver for the market today. That's accounting for a big chunk of what are fairly modest gains so far, but all in all not bad considering that US lead."
US futures were cautiously positive despite a mixed session in Asia. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.57%, Shanghai lost 0.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng put on 0.45%. Dow futures were recently up 28 points or more than 0.2%.
Business confidence moderated last quarter amid uncertainty about the global economic outlook but business conditions improved a fraction. NAB's quarterly survey reported confidence dipped two points to -1 and conditions improved one point to three.
Crude oil futures eased two cents this morning to US$102.73 a barrel. Spot gold was $2.10 softer at US$1,640.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying US$1.0367.
The market is still riding on the coat-tails of BHP's production report - the Big Australian's capitalisation and index weighting are large enough to drag the rest of the market in its wake. Bit of a stodgy session elsewhere. I wanted CDY at 2.3 for a pip or two but just missed a fill. Haven't found much else yet.
