Good Morning Fellow Traders, Strong prices for iron ore and...

Good Morning Fellow Traders,

Strong prices for iron ore and growing global economic strength have helped propel the Australian share market to a five-month high.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 32.6 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 5,846.8 points on Monday - its highest close since mid-May.

CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the local bourse was strengthening and may test the 6,000-point mark in the coming days or weeks.
"But it's not as straight forward as we might like," Mr McCarthy said.
"I think the reality is it has to do with the much better global outlook rather than a local outlook.
"Things aren't bad here, but it's the strength that we're seeing particularly in the US economy, the surprising strength of the European economy and the good growth rates we're seeing across the Asia-Pacific that's really driving us."

Mr McCarthy said another factor behind Monday's lift was iron ore prices, which have turned around in the last two trading sessions after being under sustained pressure for weeks.
"That means the materials sector is leading the charge higher," Mr McCarthy said.
The price of iron ore surged more than 4.5 per cent to $US60 a tonne over the weekend, reflecting strong demand from Chinese steel mills.

That helped push up the big miners.
BHP Billiton climbed 2.2 per cent to $26.95, Rio Tinto surged 3.4 per cent to $70.55, and Fortescue Metals added one per cent to $4.94.

Gold miner Evolution gained four cents, or 1.8 per cent, to $2.30 after it lifted production and cut costs in the September quarter.

Energy stocks benefited from higher global oil prices which have risen in the wake of strong Chinese oil imports and geopolitical tension in Iraq.
Woodside Petroleum was up 0.3 per cent to at $29.57, Santos improved 0.5 per cent to $4.19, and Oil Search ascended 0.8 per cent to $7.21.

Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank was 0.7 per cent richer at $77.20, National Australia Bank picked up 0.2 per cent at $32.25, Westpac firmed 0.4 per cent to $33.15, and ANZ rose 0.3 per cent to $30.16.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar remained resilient against the US dollar which eased in the wake of Friday's lower-than-expected US inflation report.

At 1630 AEDT on Monday, the local currency was worth 78.74 US cents, from 78.34 US cents on Friday
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 32.6 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 5,846.8 points at 1630 AEDT.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 32.5 points, or 0.55 per cent, at 5,917.2 points.
* The September SPI200 futures contract was up 34 points, or 0.59 per cent, at 5,828 points.
* National turnover was 2.4 billion securities traded worth $3.9 billion.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT ON MONDAY
One Australian dollar buys:
* 78.74 US cents, from 78.34 US cents on Friday
* 88.12 Japanese yen, from 87.84 yen
* 66.76 euro cents, from 66.13 euro cents
* 59.28 British pence, from 59.01 pence
* 109.74 NZ cents, from 109.80 NZ cents

GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1302.27 per fine ounce, from $US1295.96 per fine ounce on Friday.

BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 1.9746pct from 1.9986pct
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.6996pct, from 2.7459pct

SYDNEY FUTURES EXCHANGE PRICES:
* December 2017 10-year bond futures contract was at 97.225 (implying a yield of 2.775pct), from 97.180 (2.820pct) on Friday
* December 2017 3-year bond futures contract was at 97.89 (2.11pct), from 97.860 (2.140pct).
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEDT previous local session)

Major U.S. stock indexes rose to record high closes on Monday as financial shares recovered from last week’s losses and higher oil prices lifted energy shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 85.3 points, or 0.37 percent, to 22,957.02, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 4.47 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,557.64 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 18.20 points, or 0.28 percent, to 6,624.01.

Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup

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