Thanks Endless and regulars. Terrific stuff from Endless this morning.
Half-time round-up:
The share market rallied to within 20 points of a six-year high this morning as companies as diverse as Arrium, Dick Smith and IAG beat earnings expectations.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was trading 24 points or 0.4% ahead at 5611 and on course for its sixth gain in seven sessions since the index hit a six-week low on August 8. All sectors advanced except IT (-1%) as analysts pored over a bumper crop of earnings reports on one of the busiest days of the profit season. Materials +1.3%, metals & mining +1.1%, industrials +1% and consumer discretionary +0.9% were the stand-outs.
The morning's most warmly-received earnings updates came from CMG, MCP, DSH, ARI, GWA, MND, TOL, AMC and IVC. Among those feeling the backlash from disappointed expectations were TPI, SHL and HIL.
The rally followed an upbeat session on Wall Street that saw the Nasdaq close at a 14-year peak and the S&P 500 just 0.8% off an all-time high. “Improvements in the situation in Eastern Europe and better home-builder sentiment has heightened optimism,” Matthew Sherwood, head of investment markets research at Perpetual, told Bloomberg. “US activity is progressively improving.”
The Reserve Bank this morning noted that growth probably slowed over the June quarter and said its decision to leave interest rates on hold this month reflected uncertainty over the economic outlook. The minutes said the board “noted the significant uncertainties around the growth forecast and the importance of considering the risks to the forecast as well as the central projection". The dollar edged up a tenth of a cent to 93.37 US cents.
China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.02%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.16% and Japan's Nikkei 0.91%. Dow futures were recently up 25 points or 0.15%.
Crude oil futures bounced 19 cents this morning to US$96.79 a barrel. Spot gold was 40 cents stronger at US$1,298.70 an ounce.
Been a lovely clean bounce off the lows for those who bought the dip. The outlook gets murkier from here, with overhead resistance at the old six-year high to surmount. Still, if the market is happy to discount conflicts involving Russia, Israel, the US and Iraq, who's to say where this might go? Trading: a good morning here but conditions were very accommodative for my approach and I cashed in on far fewer than I should have. Among those that were tradeable off the lows to greater or lesser extent: MEO, ISN, SLX, SPL, OBJ and COE. Didn't get any of those. Did get IXR, which paid off well. Also took STB, which looks promising except for one determined seller. Why he was in such a hurry to drive the price down from 27c yesterday to 20c today is mystifying, but I guess it's the hunt for volume. If it's the 'investor' who took the recent placement, he had 10m at the start, so the overhang may take a few days to clear and may go lower first. THX is threatening to come good from yesterday but needs volume.
