The ASX continued to break new ground for the decade as resource stocks belatedly joined a week-long market rally.
The ASX 200 hit a ten-year high at 6358 en route to a mid-session gain of six points or 0.1% at 6346. This morning's sector leaders featured several of last week's laggards, including gold stocks +1.6%, metals & mining +1% and materials +0.8%. Telecoms advanced 0.9% to a three-month peak and industrials 0.6% to their strongest level since the GFC.
Consumer staples slipped 0.8% on a disappointing annual profit from Woolworths. Three of the four big banks lost ground, dragging the financial sector down 0.4%.
Asian markets traded mixed. China's Shanghai Composite put on 0.34% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.93%. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.18%. S&P 500 futures were recently off 0.2 points or 0.01%.
Crude oil futures eased 20 cents or 0.3% this morning to US$65.71 a barrel. Gold futures jumped $7.90 or 0.6% to US$1,191.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 73.06 US cents.
Currency factors boosting resource stocks. Prospect of China-US trade talks seemed to cap the rally in the greenback, temporarily at least. The Wall Street Journal claims negotiators are laying the groundwork for Trump and Xi to have a big trade summit in November. Trading: squeezed a pip from GCY and eased out of CMP from last week with slim profit.
