Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Also Taughtbuffet for laying on a feast of something this morning.
Half-time round-up:
The Australian share market jumped out of the blocks, punching to a one-week high as regional markets welcomed strong US jobs data.
The ASX 200 rallied 39 points or 0.6% to 6029 as traders shrugged off the latest US trade tariffs, focussing instead on an 18-year low in US unemployment announced on Friday. The jobs news helped drive the S&P 500 up 1.08%, setting up regional markets for a bright start to the week. China's Shanghai Composite put on 0.53%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.23% and Japan's Nikkei 1.5%. S&P 500 futures were recently up 4.7 points or 0.17%.
Back home, resource stocks led the advance. The gold sector added 1.4%, metals & mining 1% and materials 0.9%. The industrials sector tacked on 0.8% and financials 0.8%. Defensive utilities lost 1.4% and telecoms 0.9%.
Crude oil futures edged up four cents or 0.1% this morning to US$65.85 a barrel. Gold futures faded $2.20 or 0.17% to US$1,297.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying 75.97 US cents.
Further support for the notion the local index might be building a base around 6000. US futures are hinting at further gains to come tonight, setting up the XJO for another tilt at 6100. Feels like buying interest in the specs is picking up, albeit from very low levels. Did not translate into any wins for me yet today. Very few price alerts triggered this morning. I could use some drama.
