daytrading sep 14 afternoon

Thanks Endless. Suzie, all the best with your mum.

Half-time round-up:

A regional benchmark index is on track for its best winning run in more than a year and a half after Australian and Asian stocks welcomed the launch of QE3 in the US.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was this morning up 1.1% and on course for a seventh straight rise, its best streak since January 2011. At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 46 points or 1.1% at 4385 and within reach of its highest close since early May.

All Australian sectors rallied this morning, except defensive telecoms, health and utilities stocks. Gold was the pick of the sectors, jumping 5.6%. Other standouts were metals & mining +2.9%, materials +2.5% and the Small Ordinaries +2.2%. The advance followed news last night that the US Federal Reserve will launch a new bond-buying program and keep its benchmark lending rate near zero until at least the middle of 2015.

"The Fed isn't going to hold any punches back in trying to combat a slowdown," Prasad Patkar, portfolio manager with Platypus Asset Management told Bloomberg. "Risk appetite will improve in the short term not only because of what the Fed's done, but also globally there seems to be enough motivation among policy makers in China and Europe to stimulate."

Shanghai rallied 0.35% this morning, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 2.51% and Japan's Nikkei 1.54%. Dow futures were recently up 31 points or more than 0.2%.

The dollar reached its highest level in a month as traders sold the greenback in response to the Fed announcement. The Aussie was this morning buying $US1.0574.

Crude oil futures surged another 94 cents this morning to US$98.99 a barrel. Spot gold was $2.90 stronger at US$1,772.90 an ounce.


Full steam ahead. It's just a pity this bullish lead has fallen on a Friday - a day when the ASX rarely holds its gains. A close anywhere around these levels would be a very good result. Extraordinary bounces in some of the gold stocks this morning - must have been a lot of traders caught short. Not much in the way of pullbacks this morning but I jagged a wage in EMS.