Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Half-time round-up: Merger news...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Merger news helped fuel a fifth day of gains and a new decade high for the ASX.  

The ASX 200 rallied 17 points or 0.3% to 6369, a level last seen in January 2008 in the early days of the global financial crisis. The telecoms sector led the advance, jumping 3.5% on news of a "merger of equals" between TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia. Support came from the IT sector +1.1%, health +0.8% and utilities +0.8%. The financials and materials sectors traded just below break-even.

The market mood was positive from the open following a fourth straight record close for the major share indices in the US overnight. The S&P 500 put on 0.57% after Canada rejoined trade talks with the US. S&P 500 futures were recently off two points or 0.07%.

Asian markets traded little changed. China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.36% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.27%. Japan's Nikkei inched ahead 0.16%.

Crude oil futures rose 14 cents or 0.2% this morning to US$69.65 a barrel. Gold futures eased 40 cents or 0.03% to US$1,211.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying 72.9 US cents.



Trading: busy morning rummaging through the bargain bins for anything of (extremely short-term) value. Flipped CCA, FIG, A3D (twice) and MYE. Going back for another go at FIG may have been over-optimistic. Time will tell. Enjoying this reporting season.